The Roaring Dragon at Our Gates

A short analysis of the Sino-India relations:

The most horrible dream which India ever witnessed post ’47 was the Sino-India war of the ’62 where we had to face humiliating defeat at the hands of the Chinese ,the attack “astounded” us and accounted for ‘betrayal by a friend’ in the history books of India. But the funny part of the story is that India still looks forward to establish a friendly relation with China even cognizing the nature of the Chinese Government and the reciprocity we are receiving at our end after exhibiting intentions of friendship and peace for the past 61 years.

The potential threat from China is not undiscovered but is unfaltering and is exemplified with the frequent challenges and the aggressive stance adopted by the Chinese. We enjoyed deep slumber during the Nehru-era and were mostly preoccupied with strengthening friendly relations with China and what we witnessed was only and only betrayal and thus the Chinese attacked us in ’62 and left us spellbound with the slogans of “INDO-CHEENI BHAI BHAI”.

Surprisingly we have still adopted the same age old Nehru-principles of Panchsheel and his vision of a resurgent Asia which is the actual cause of the illusion of friendship we are still hypnotized by. Our friend betrayed us in the past and is once again ready to betray us, but still we carry forward the defensive stands. The need of the hour is to strengthen our defense setup which can boldly meet the Chinese challenges. We have been offering so much focus on tackling Pakistan that we have almost neglected other diplomatic relations and we have been practically denuded on other fronts.

There are a number of problems hindering the Indian supremacy over the Chinese. The PLA is frequently adopting aggressive stance on the Arunachal issue and often we hear about Chinese infiltration on the McMahon Border, and so has the Chinese previously announced that they do not conform to the McMahon border. The guarding forces of Indo-Tibetan Border Police(ITBP) was in the news recently as the Indian army demanded the central ministry to hand over the ITBP command to them, this would facilitate the single point command for the India army, but sadly there has been no compliance with the demands and thus it becomes tough sledding for the Indian Army. The next big issue is the Chinese indirect infiltration into India.

Mao was a great follower of Master Sun Tzu who once said "To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting." To personify the saying China has been supplying nuclear weapons and technology to Pakistan and while India is busy containing Pakistan the Chinese have a free race to run in developing itself. China has been also previously accused of supplying arms and ammunitions to Pakistan during the Kargil war too and China is a master at mind games and so adopts direct as well as indirect infiltration against India. The expenditure by the communist Chinese government on defense clarifies its vicious ambitions in Asia. The Chinese defense budget is manifolds that of Indian defense expenditure.

Furthermore the defensive posture played by the Indian Government during the late 1950’s when Tibet was invaded by People’s Liberation army of China confirmed India’s leniency on the Tibet issue. Mao termed Tibet as the palm of a hand with its five fingers as Ladakh, Sikkim, Nepal, Bhutan, and North East Frontier Agency and such ambitions are dangerous from India’s perspective. China is occupied in conciliating India’s neighbors and its impact is visible on Nepal and Myanmar and pleasing them by providing assistance and thus condensing India’s impact in South Asia and such policy of appeasement is hampering India’s geo-political growth and impact in Asia. China has vested interests in Sikkim and Arunachal and will try every possible measure to annex them on the pretext of liberation. China is also a major impediment in India’s path to a permanent UN seat. China is also accused of selling nuclear technology in exchange of oil (dangerous barter!!).

The strong violation of the human rights in China and the atrocities faced by the Buddhists in China is not masked from the world. The Environmentalists have already started debating and warned India on the issue of the river project on Brahmaputra River which could be dangerous to India and unfortunately our Foreign Minister is in no position to give the Fourth Estate a clear accountability over the issue. China in a nutshell is a villain, a personified “dragon” and should be tackled soon or else it would force the world into World War III.

Nevertheless Chinese supremacy prevails over India on fronts of defense and economic growth still India presents a dominating position and has various other advantages.

First, India has the power of the English language while China lacks it, through its mandarin which makes India capable of growing fast and increase globalization opportunities.

Second, India has a young population with a median age of 25.3 years which means higher savings and high workforce by the Indian population in the long run. USA will any day support India if it has to make a choice between India and China as US is aware of the security, by empowering the Indian tiger and not the Chinese dragon.

Third argument is the strong democracy existent in India and absent from its counter-part. For any reform to take place in India, it is closely scrutinized by the Government of the people before it is implemented unlike China where the communists are single handedly governing the nation.

As countries modernize, one of the things people want is a greater say in running their own life i.e. democracy. History swears that countries which have transited into democracy had to undergo hard times but luckily India has already passed that phase and is a secure democracy now.

Another striking feature of the Indian domination over China is the field of IT and Technology where we possess an upper hand over the Chinese. In a conference Dalai Lama said “When Tibet was free, we took our freedom for granted. In former times Tibetans were a war-like nation whose influence spread far and wide. With the advent of Buddhism our military prowess declined “The Dalai Lama perhaps hinted at the same Indian pacifist philosophies pursued by the Government when it comes to China.

Hence it is advantageous to ponder over the fact that if India does not take a firm and bold stand it would be soon that the dragon would engulf India’s rising stature and steady growth. The appeal lies to the Ministry of Defense to install arms and ammunitions which can meet the rising standards and devise strategies which would be convenient enough for us to face the dragon. It is high time when we start focusing on other issues apart from Pakistan and devise a clear strategy against the dragon roaring at our gates.

Varun Tripathi

Symbiosis Law School