Modi’s China Policy Lacks Transparency

By Sushil Kutty

Right now China should be vulnerable with the ‘gang-up’ of nations against it over the ‘origins’ of the coronavirus pandemic. But, for all that, Chinese incursion against India is unstoppable. The Chinese PLA is all over and this side of the LAC. “Quick Chinese incursions” have become the order of the Chinese day, says a ‘conflict analyst.’ But, it emerges later, that he’s friendly with the Indian establishment and could be a RAW implant! Now, he says, with rare aplomb, PLA troops haven’t set up tent in India territory though they roamed about in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh for nearly two weeks!

That’s the problem. Everything India-China is kind of hazy. Nothing is clear. Nobody takes the trouble to clarify. The Modi Government makes no statements. Modi gets into a huddle with the NSA and CDS, along with the EAM, to discuss Ladakh and China but at the end of the meeting nobody expounds on what was discussed and what was decided. It’s like the pakora-population of Akhand Bharat/India don’t need to be told anything of importance except advised to remain masked and tasked with what Modi tells you in his monthly ‘Man ki Baat!’

Or, is it weekly? Shucks, who the heck knows or wants to know. The pakorawallas of India are doubly scared – scared of the Trump-called ‘China/Wuhan virus’ looking us up and scared of the inscrutable Chinese PLA running amok this side of the LAC. But, before that becomes a horrific reality, shouldn’t Mr. Modi tell all mute Indians where’s the LAC, and where are the soldiers of the Indian Army? Do we have possession of our half (or quarter?) of the Pangong Tso Lake? And what about our ‘four fingers’ in the Galwan Valley pie?

Point is Indians by and large are fed up of being kept in the dark by the Modi government on crucial issues concerning the nation. Narendra Modi thinks his subjects are simpletons; folks who don’t hardly think of intellectual and highbrow stuff like military strikes across the LAC. So, what Indians get to know about the LAC is from the statements made by the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson and what’s published in the Chinese propaganda mouthpiece, the Global Times. And what GT publishes are horror stories of how powerful and ruthless the Chinese PLA is!

The fact of the matter is, one fails to understand the Modi Government’s China Policy? Modi himself appears so reticent on China that it gives one the impression that he’s been silenced by the ‘Wuhan Spirit.’ It can’t be the ‘Wuhan virus.’ The reality is when it comes to China and President Xi Jinping, Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes out as a paler version of President Donald Trump, who everybody knows cannot make up his mind whether to cozy up to Xi Jinping or blast China out of the trench.

It is common knowledge that ever since Narendra Modi took charge of India’s reign/reins, China has been running up a score against India even as Xi Jinping kept Modi in China’s loop with a pat here and a smile there. With slow rides on the Sabarmati swing and hard stares over Doklam, Modi and Xi sipped Chinese tea in Wuhan with a brotherly hug. But this summit-less camaraderie with Xi Jinping did not make much sense when looked through the lens of geostrategic realpolitik. The sneaking suspicion remained that China was taking India for a ride!

Let’s concede China is no friend of India. Why should it be? China and India are adversaries. They cannot be anything other than opponents, rivals of each other. The question remains, does India have it in her to look China in the eye? No. India is a sucker for always giving up to Chinese aggression. India lacks the toughness fibre to take on China. Does not matter whether it’s Nehru or Modi at the helm. Doesn’t make a whit of a difference!

Point is, the Indian leadership always kowtows to the Chinese. It goes overboard trying hard to be ‘goody-goody’, endowed with a generous big heart. Which other country would sit quiet for 58 years and not reclaim Aksai Chin, which is 38,000 square km huge? The so-called Hindu nationalist party, the BJP, kept strumming the guitar and parroting: ‘Do not worry, let the BJP come to power, just you wait and see …’ But when it came the BJP’s time, Modi is as diffident as the ones before him. ‘Modi Hai To Mumkin Hai’ has no equivalent in Mandarin!

So even if China’s up the creek without a paddle, which it’s not, India under the Modi government cannot do zilch to China. With the incursions across the LAC, China is warning India to stay out of Trump’s reach. Does Modi have it in him to push back with equal determination? Like his Australian counterpart Morrison. Can India get in China’s eye, can Modi force Xi to back-off? (IPA Service)