In the following article, that was written by the proposed former Foreign Secretary of India, the author acknowledged the significance of India-China relationship. At the same time, the author cautioned that China is dealing with India as part of its strategy to gain domination over India and Asia as a whole and there is a need for India to protect its interest.
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Author: KANWAL SIBAL (former foreign secretary)
New Delhi must not ignore realities as it engages with Beijing and controls the activities of the Tibetans in India.
We have not as yet found a satisfactory way to deal with China, as is evident from the recent memo issued by the government asking senior leaders and government functionaries not to attend events planned by the Tibetan diaspora to mark 60 years of Dalai Lama’s exile in India and thank India for giving him and the Tibetans shelter. The memo was not to prevent the Tibetans from organising this year-long event but to restrain official level participation in it so that the political messaging aspect from the government’s perspective is controlled.
Tibetan cause
The Tibetan “Prime Minister” was invited to attend Modi’s swearing-in ceremony, the Dalai Lama was allowed to travel to Arunachal Pradesh and to Tawang in particular in the teeth of Chinese warnings and former President Pranab Mukherjee received him in Rashtrapati Bhawan. China’s scornful invective hurled at us during the Doklam stand-off was deeply offensive.
The government may have felt that many public figures, presuming a tougher Indian posture towards China, may decide to associate themselves with the planned events, especially in New Delhi, and this may distort our calibrated handling of the Tibetan issue in the overall management of ties with Beijing. In that sense, the memo may have had some justification. Its leak to the media that has caused problems.
But then, this should have been anticipated because in our system such newsworthy leaks are inevitable. Aside those within the system who may have a soft corner for the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan cause and would want to make the memo public to trigger criticism, some others would have wanted to expose the confusion and inconsistency of government policy towards China- standing up boldly to it at Doklam at the risk of an armed skirmish and now willing appease it.
Ideally, our liaison officer in Dharamsala could have apprised the organisers in advance of government’s views on representation levels at the planned functions, or, alternatively, the memo could have asked political leaders and government functionaries to consult with the ministry of external affairs before accepting any invitation. Be that as it may, the short point is that, because it leaked, the memo has given unmerited comfort to China and unmerited discomfort to the Tibetan community and to the government as well.
We must, of course, keep engaging China. We have no choice as China has become our direct neighbour by occupying Tibet and it threatens our security and territorial integrity on land from there. Its maritime strategy threatens our interests and security in the Indian Ocean. Its international economic clout has grown immensely.
Centre stage
At the bilateral level this is getting reflected in our trade figures now standing at almost $82 billion (over Rs 5 lakh crore), and although our exports have increased the deficit still amounts to $51 billion (Over Rs 3 lakh crore). We are not able to handle the problem of China’s exports of low-cost goods that has wiped out local manufacturing in several areas. China’s investments in certain sectors in India — telecom equipment, mobile phones, power, ecommerce and so on— has a momentum that we can’t easily control because of private sector freedom, local lobbies and WTO constraints.
A balanced engagement with China is, however, difficult because of a growing gap in economic, financial and military strength of the two countries. China is very focused on achieving certain goals within defined time-lines, and these are very power oriented, aimed at building military capabilities to win wars and occupying the centre stage in international relations, which is a euphemism for becoming the world’s pre-eminent power. To this end it has marshalled gargantuan projects such as the Belt and Road Initiative to serve its hegemonic ambitions. India does not think in such power terms in shaping its domestic and external policies.
Destabilising rise
It has a defensive and accommodating mindset even when it claims its rightful place in global institutions. China is dealing with India as part of its strategy to gain domination over us and Asia as a whole. Because it believes it can deal with India from a position of strength China switches from abuse to charm and vice versa as required tactically. Even in the current phase, its foreign minister expects India to be responsible and work with China to improve ties while expressing his country’s determination to protect its rightful interests.
We have maintained highest level political and military exchanges with China all these years without affecting the core of China’s adverse policies towards India. More exchanges planned for this year will not change the established patterns of Chinese conduct towards us. Even as it continues on its own highly ambitious trajectory, its current softer posture is aimed at holding us back from deepening our participation in the evolving hedging strategies against its destabilising rise. All these are realities that we must not ignore even as we engage China and control the activities of the Tibetans in India.
(Courtesy of Mail Today)
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https://www.dailyo.in/politics/indo-china-ties-xi-jinping-narendra-modi-tibet-doklam/story/1/22803.html