China's containment policy

The current incursion problem between India and China was discussed in the last write-up. The history connected to the problem was also discussed to a certain extend. However, to understand the issue completely one needs to know about the Chinese policy of containment of India and their global connections in great depth.

China’s policy towards India, for several decades now, has been that of containment. By containment we mean literally engulfing India from all sides and trying to influence its foreign relations. This defines the crux of the Sino-Indian Conflict. Of course in the recent years, China has not shied away from maintaining trade relations with India. It is almost ironical that China, as said in the last blog entry, happens to be India’s largest trade partner. They have also agreed for energy cooperation with India.

However, one cannot deny that both nations have been extremely sceptical of each other. Each country observes the other’s actions and strategies with suspicion. China is so powerful today that nothing India does can possibly affect it in a great manner. However, there is also no doubt that China views India as a competitor in retaining its position as Asia’s strong power and the next superpower of the world.

There was a time when India viewed China as a close friend and trusted ally. This was the “Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai” phase when there was peace between the nations and also heart-felt camaraderie. However, this phase wasn’t to last for long. In 1962, China attacked India and broke all its fanciful notions about their friendship. India would never again trust a nation and would now build a strong defense system to counter any such attempts. Sino-Indian relations have been turbulent since then. Its dreams to expand geo-politically in the region were also hurdled by India at many points. Many Indian leaders such as Rajiv Gandhi have visited China after the war, but the wounds of humiliation that India went through after the defeat of 62 never really healed.

This was apparent in the future when India continued to reject China’s swap proposal. The proposal was first put forward by China in 1960s and then in 1980. Both these times, India declared that the deal was not acceptable to India. The swap proposal meant that India will legitimatize China’s control over Aksai Chin and China inturn will accept India monopoly over Arunachal Pradesh. Indian leaders maintained that India would so much as not give an inch of its land to the Chinese at any cost.

Some of the incidents worsened the relations between the nations. Vajpayee had once sent a letter to Clinton, the then President of USA, wherein he wanted to built India’s army and blamed China indirectly for this as its nuclear capacity was making India more vulnerable. China had more recently ditched India at the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group meeting. It had promised to back India to carry on its attempts to get nuclear energy for civilian purposes, but later spoke against India being granted a permit.

As discussed in the earlier blog, China has found a strategic ally in Pakistan and wants to constantly keep India under pressure through this. One can even assume that China would never shy away from backing Pakistan in the wake of a war against India by the conflicting country. China is also building an important port at Quadar in Pakistan that will help it encroach the India sea limits. India has been hugely protesting this, but the response of the international community has been weak. Also, China has always beaten India in Myanmar, where it always gets away with the gas deals at the last moment. China’s growing connections with Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos are also cause of growing concern within our nation.

However, India is not silent in the wake of this China containment strategy. It has devised many plans to counter the encircling mission. It has also tried to improve its relations with the neigboring nations. It will be revising its policy of trying to dictate the foreign policies of countries such as Nepal and Bhutan. It has also tried to better its relations with USA, because that is certainly something China would not be happy with. However, India’s counter-containment policies can never match the might of China. Hence, it is important that India try and improve its relations with the most powerful neighbour if its. Another war is certainly not feasible for both the nations, but the incursions of China are certainly indicative of its intentions. It’s like a reality check for India as to who’s the boss in Asia. Hopefully, there will be an end to the animosity at some time in future, as it is never helpful to hold on to old grudges. Chinese and Indian leaders should work on the bilateral relations with better zest.