The Chinese move (s)

Abhinandan Mishra

New Delhi

The India-China standoff, which is in its 9^th months now, could not have come at a better time for it has brought a global focus on the inevitable dangers of the expansionist mindset of China which, from thoughts, has now started to take shape on the ground.

India is fighting its battle, through diplomacy and by fortifying its position in Eastern Ladakh and by ‘dominating’ regions which were earlier not under its control. However, the more important point that needs to be debated is the danger of an ‘irresponsible’ super-power that China is turning out to be as it aims to replace the United States from the long-held position of a global superpower.

The world needs to understand that what China is doing with India- by trying to seize Indian territories- is not just an act to increase the land under its control. The real intention is to give a message to the world leaders, the global policy makers that China has ‘arrived’ and it needs to be feared if not respected.

As of now, due to the fore-sightedness of Indian policy makers, who for years have taken the Chinese factor into consideration while formulating long term security strategies, Indian armed forces are well prepared to stop China from physically taking over any Indian territory. However, the other neighboring countries simply do not have the wherewithal to stop China from taking over their territory if it decides to, as Nepal is witnessing.

It is in that context that the aggressive posture that China has adapted against India, in the last few months, becomes important.

Old people and ancient sayings will tell you that it is prudent to confront one strong opponent, defeat him which will give the required message to the other smaller opponents rather than waste time and resources on defeating every single opponent. That’s what China is doing.

It wants to give a message to the world that it considers the country- which is the third largest global economy (by purchasing power parity), has the largest ground force, fourth largest air force and the seventh largest navy- as nothing.

By engaging in a needless border stand-off with India on its Eastern border, and promoting terror in close coordination with its all weather friend Pakistan at India’s Western border, China is also ensuring that India spends a vast amount of its tangible resources on augmenting and procuring new arms and defense platforms rather than spending the same on developing critical infrastructure that will boost the local and global economy. This is the more sinister of the Chinese objective that the world needs to take note of.

It is also important to understand that all this border issue was brought into existence at a time when the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had gone out of the established protocol to nurture close ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping. This is an example of the often forgotten and ignored ‘dagger in the cloak’ state-craft which China seems to have perfected.

The United States- as the series of agreements that it signed with India in the last couple of years show, coupled with the recently declassified US-Indo pacific strategy document proves- needs a strong and well developed India to stop the rampaging China, especially when it comes to its gargantuan economic power.

And this is something which China has also realized. A strong India, that has a democratic setup, will always continue to emerge as the proverbial Himalayan wall to stop China’s expansionism. Weakening India is not the ultimate objective of China, it is its first step towards a much larger sinister plan, something the world leaders need to realize.