Ever since Xi Jinping’s rise in 2012, China has been acting offensively and aggressively against India. In the past, India had always responded in a muted manner to aggressive Chinese acts. Accordingly, for far too long, India had been avoiding a confrontational approach with it. But China has always acted against Indian interests. Its ‘string of pearls’ policy was to contain India. Besides Pakistan, it has been making India’s other neighbours, such as Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, hostile to it. Further ULFA and NSCN insurgency in the North East is openly supported by China. In league with hostile Bangladesh, it might plan to cut off the North East states. This is so because China considers India as its eternal competitor and enemy.
However, there are reports of a power struggle in China between Xi Jinping and General Zhang Youxia, who had been vice chairman of the CMC (Chinese Military Commission). It seems Zhang has the upper hand. It is a floating situation. Power struggle in China allows India an important window of opportunity. If China can exploit India’s regional and internal vulnerabilities, why shouldn’t India, too, repay it in the same coin?
India ought to shed its weak-kneed approach and play ‘tit for tat’ to design a paradigm shift in its Tibet stance. It seems, in recent times, India has geared itself up for this role. The following events indicate a paradigm shift in India’s Tibet policy:
- India supports the Dalai Lama’s assertion that his successor would be from a free country. It is a negation of the Chinese stand that the successor would be appointed by China. India’s open support for the Dalai Lama is a rejection of the Chinese claim.
- Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prema Khandu, making a statement that the Indian border is with Tibet and not China. It is de-recognising Chinese sovereignty over Tibet.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the Dalai Lama on the completion of 90 years of age. He wished him ‘Happy Birthday’.
- Dalai Lama‘s birthday celebrations at Dharamshala, attended by Union Minister Kiran Rijiju and Arunachal Chief Minister Prema Khandu.
- The Dalai Lama visiting Leh in an IAF plane and going to the LAC. He was widely welcomed.
Indian support to Uyghur Muslims can create serious problems for China, blocking G219 to Lhasa and making the Karakoram Highway to Gwadar in Pakistan unusable. This can also assist the Baloch insurgency in Pakistan. Active insurgency in Xinjiang can cut off the Chinese land connection to Gwadar, and it will also isolate Tibet
Exploiting insurgency
Besides Tibet, Xinjiang is another autonomous region of China, adjoining Gilgit-Baltistan of POJK, which has been under illegal occupation of China since 1951. The region is also called East Turkmenistan. Indian mythology says it was once called ‘Uttar Kuru’ and was ruled by ‘Pandavas’ of Mahabharata fame. Xinjiang, nowadays, has a simmering insurgency by Uighur Muslims, who want to secede. China has banned all religious activity there. The Tibet Highway of China (G219) runs from Kashgar in Xinjiang to Lhasa in Tibet through Aksai Chin.
Indian support for Uyghur Muslims can create serious problems for China. It will not only block G219 to Lahasa but also make its use of the Karakoram Highway to Gwadar in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province unusable. This can also assist the Baloch insurgency in Pakistan. Active insurgency in Xinjiang can cut off the Chinese land connection to Gwadar, and it will also isolate Tibet. Thus, India can hope to regain not only Aksai Chin but also help Tibet become independent. Whatever is good for Indian national security, it must be done.
India’s tough stand against China has become a mandatory security need. The above-mentioned events reflect upon this change in India’s China policy. It no longer sees itself as a weakling, which emanated from its non-violent moralities of the 1950s. Despite the Nehru government providing 400 tonnes of rice to Chinese troops in Tibet in 1950 and welcoming the Chinese occupation of Tibet, China had stabbed Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in the back in 1962. It deliberately left the border issue unresolved and identified the LAC (Line of Actual Control) on the ground since then. It has been using this conflict as a handle to blackmail India. But the time has come for India to say, “Enough is Enough”.
Apart from the proactive stand, India ought to be vigilant on the ‘enemy within’, both overground and underground. Even India’s so-called friends in the West are not happy with India’s proactive stand. They are uncomfortable, and their ‘Global Deep State’ (GDS) is keen to checkmate India through its agents within
The shift seems to have come because of China’s direct and open support to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor. China provided Pakistan with missiles, radars and drones and intelligence on India. This was China’s way of keeping India engaged with Pakistan to retard its progress and growth. China has been doing it, though Pakistan has a close association with the United States, China’s arch enemy.
India’s latest alleged drone attack or a silent military operation, in Myanmar on ULFA and NSCN (K) camps, causing extensive damage to the militants, was also a notice to China that it would not tolerate its proxies waging war with India from foreign lands. It is also a notice to militant groups operating within India to note that they would not be safe in forests or the concrete jungles of urban areas. India now has the BVR (Beyond Visual Range) capability of pinpointed strike without causing lateral damage.
The alleged operation against ULFA cadres in Myanmar was also a warning to not only militant groups both within and outside, but also hostile neighbours like Bangladesh and Pakistan, and even Nepal and Sri Lanka, to watch out. Their acts against Indian regional and strategic interests would be appropriately punished.
The West and the US are concerned that India might become ‘another China’, in the times to come, to challenge their supremacy. India’s role in the recent BRICS meeting was interesting. It gave new scope to BRICS by explaining the acronym as BUILDING RESILIENCE by INNOVATION, COOPERATION & SUSTAINABILITY
Aside from the proactive stand, India ought to be vigilant on the ‘enemy within’, both overground and underground. Even India’s so-called friends in the West are not happy with India’s proactive stand. They are uncomfortable, and their ‘Global Deep State’ (GDS) is keen to checkmate India through its agents within.
The technological advancement shown by India during Op Sindoor has shocked them. The West and the USA are concerned that India might become ‘another China’, in the times to come, to challenge their supremacy. India’s role in the recent BRICS meeting was interesting. It has given new scope to BRICS by explaining the acronym as BUILDING RESILIENCE by INNOVATION, COOPERATION & SUSTAINABILITY. This means that the group can now take on new members, particularly from Africa and South America. Thus, no more, it would be confined to the original five nations. The group can emerge as an alternative power centre in the world. India has, therefore, emerged as a pivot in global affairs.
-An ex-NDA and Wellington Staff College graduate, Col Rajinder Singh is a renowned author and security analyst. He has authored four books, two individually and two in collaboration. His best-selling books are Kashmir – A Different Perspective and The ULFA Insurgency. The views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
