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India and China have shown lot of maturity in avoiding war

Young Bites. Dated: 10/12/2017 8:22:44 AM

(Sh. Nikhil Gupta)The military tensions between India and China de-escalated after lot of time but as quickly as it had started with a bang. There are lots of lessons to be learnt for both countries on the Doklam issue. China being bigger country agreed to stop road construction and India reciprocated . India and China have maintained diplomatic communication in respect of the incident at Doklam. During these communications both sides expressed their views and conveyed their concerns and interests. Majority of Indians are immensely impressed by the attitude and maturity shown by Indian government. India didn’t succumb to Chinese psychological pressure and never gave a loose or rhetorical statement. On the contrary China, through its state controlled media like Global Times , embassy officials, Army chief etc. threatened India on a daily basis. Perhaps China never thought that India would respond in such a strong and firm manner. In contrast India’s defeat in 1962 can be seen from the perspective of the then government under Pandita J L Nehru . The government under Pandita J L Nehru committed diplomatic failure to arrive at a solution with China . The Nehru government committed the strategic folly of engaging in a forward policy of creating military posts in a disputed zone that could not be supplied properly with food, equipment, arms and ammunition. Beginning in 1957 after unilaterally deciding where its borders lay with China ,India began establishing these posts in areas that China considered its territory, further inflaming what was a fraught situation. The consequences of this policy were not appreciated by the then government . Right up to the point when China attacked Indian positions in the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA, as Arunachal Pradesh was called then), Nehru believed that China would take no action. The actual tactical-level blunders were seen in the Tawang area where the commander of the IV Corps Lt Gen B.M. Kaul tasked with “evicting China” displayed remarkable military incompetence. China overtook Tibet in 1950s and Nehru government had almost 10 years for preparation of any future war with China but Nehru in his cunning complacency never took any steps to develop the military muscle to buttress Indian position . Perhaps Nehru disliked army and no surprise then that when the first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, General Rob Lockhart, went to Nehru with a formal defence paper that needed a policy directive from the prime minister, Nehru had exclaimed: ‘Rubbish! Total rubbish! We don’t need a defence policy. Our policy is ahimsa (non-violence). We foresee no military threats. As far as I am concerned you can scrap the army—the police are good enough to meet our security needs.’ But 1962 war changed everything and nehru government also never recovered from the shock of defeat . May be pandita Nehru was cunning but he was not a warrior. Similarly the then army Chief P N Thapar was also unprofessional and not warrior like and so was the operational commander of North east region B M Koul . The Henderson Brooks report into the 1962 debacle, outed by journalist Neville Maxwell has castigated this unprofessional attitude . The delusional complacency of army generals during the 1962 China war was unprofessional. They thought that they will fire few rounds at the Chinese and they will run away. Very surprisingly the Henderson Brooks report puts the onus for the debacle on the Army brass itself for disastrous leadership. The report lambastes Army Headquarters for not only allowing itself to be hustled into ill-prepared operations that could only lead to disaster but even ignoring sound military advice from its commands not to go in for a misadventure. Wars are not won by cunningness . Defeats in war are very serious for a nation .When a foreigner invading creep Mohamad Ghori defeated and killed Prithvi Raj Chauhan it brought serious consequences for the nation .
The maturity shown by the present government in easing the Doklam standoff could pave the way for a new chapter in the India China relationship. India & China have a lot of shared concerns and aspirations. A consensus should be reached to enhance mutual trust and manage differences. Both nations should revive dialogue mechanisms and promote youth and educational cooperation . Both nations should mutually see each other as development partners rather than as threats. Business - Economic and trade cooperation between the two countries have been gaining momentum steadily. More than 500 Chinese companies have invested and started business in India with huge investment. Many Indian enterprises of IT, pharmacy and consultancy have entered the Chinese market. Cultural - People-to-people exchanges are also thriving with mutual visits having exceeded one million. Yoga, Darjeeling tea, and Bollywood movies have become fashionable among the Chinese youth. But there are some concerns regarding Chinese smart phones. Most of the Indians using Chinese smartphones are not aware how their phones have turned into a battleground for two countries. There are reports that Chinese smartphone companies are sending user data of Indians to China . China can exploit Indian user data transmitted by Chinese smartphone companies for commercial as well as strategic purposes. The Indian Ministry of Electronics and IT has directed 21 smartphone makers, most of which are Chinese, to inform it about the procedures and processes they follow to ensure the security of mobile phones sold in India, following reports of data leakage and theft. The government should also ask Chinese handset makers to set up servers in India to ensure the protection of user data, following concerns about security breaches, especially as most Chinese smartphone vendors have servers in their home country. We should learn from China as China has forced major partners to set up servers in China . Another Chinese company Alibaba’s UC Browser has come under the government’s scanner for alleged leak of mobile data of its Indian users. UC Browser is part of Alibaba’s mobile business group. Alibaba has made significant investments in the payment bank firm Paytm which is another concern for Indians as lot of Indians use Paytm for online and digital payments . There is a bigger concern than transmission of data to China and its commercial misuse. A hostile China’s giant telecom footprint in India can be used to launch big cyber attacks.
China knows that its economy is at a standstill, inventories have piled up, the biggest steel supplier to the world now sees its economy decelerating as global recession has stunted manufacturing activity in most of Europe. United States under President Trump has also not been the same US under previous regimes that pampered china economically and politically. Trump seems to be favoring India against China because India is a safer bet to invest than china whose economy has overheated and its GDP growth has slumped. Secondly USA wants to stamp out terrorism and sees Sino-Pakistan relationship as an unhealthy trend as it sees Pakistan as the backyard of terrorism in the world entertaining and housing all kinds of fissiparous militant groups. My humble suggestion to China is to get rid of that terrorist country of pakistan and instead become good friend of India .Both India and China can become the twin engines of growth . India’s growing economy is actually helpful in easing the downward pressure on China’s economy. Only if China and India help each other and forge ahead can they bring hope to themselves and illuminate the world as well. Indian soft power is huge and whole world stands with India on major issues . It was soft diplomacy at its best when our Lady defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman greeted Chinese military officials with an Indian customary “namaste” at the Nathu La border where she was on an official visit .Hope china and India become good friends . At the same time our military guard should never be lowered . The triad deterrence of India should be enhanced .
The motto is “THE ROYALE GUPTA WARRIORS NEVER FIGHT FOR THEMSELVES BUT FIGHT FOR A BIGGER CAUSE “ Vande Matram and Jai Hind