Nowhere
is man freer than on the field of battle, where it is a matter of life and
death, wrote Leo Tolstoy. One way of determining people’s morality is
by observing their reactions during a crisis. And brave Indian soldiers showed
just that during that fateful night of Jun 15th (which just happened
to be President Xi’s 67th birthday) when they were outnumbered by 3
to 1 and showed the courage that is expected of a soldier.
Relations
between India and China have never been comfortable since the unprovoked attack
by them in 1962. The root cause of the problem at that time was the boundary
and today after sixty odd years, it’s still the boundary issue.
China’s
ambitious to become world’s top most power is no secret. India is not only its
neighbor but also someone that can, in future challenge its hegemony. China
domesticated Pakistan and some other India’s neighbor, who can be used to keep
India’s global ambitions in check. A weaker India will do less strategically in
its own neighborhood and will engage less in places like Africa & Middle East
or in regional institutions, posing little challenge to China’s influence.
This
is just a view of an ordinary Indian and I am sure there are larger
implications here, but India shouldn’t care about China’s sensitivity to issues
like Tibet, Hong Kong & South China Sea and take a firm stand. India should
accept China’s rise, instead of questioning it and then recognize the challenge
they are facing. India always wanted to have a cordial relation with China,
starting from Rabindranath Tagore’s visit in 1924 to the most recent visit by
PM Modi. But China never normalized the relationships nor resolved the border
issues. It’s time for India’s foreign policy planners to understand that Vasudhaiva
Kutumbakam – World is ONE BIG FAMILY, doesn’t apply to someone whose sole
purpose is to grow at your expense.
