Arrest the slide in ties with China
comes on the heels of India’s unwillingness to participate in the Belt and Road jamboree in Beijing. We may debate the wisdom of staying out this initiative altogether, but in refusing to participate in the meeting New Delhi sent out a clear signal that it would not accept China’s hierarchical notions of reordering Asian politics. It is no coincidence either that the standoff occurred just ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit to the United States. Beijing has orchestrated several highly visible incursions along side diplomatic visits in order to assert its ability to embarrass India.
In attempting to wind down the standoff, India must take into account considerations at each of these levels. Operationally, we cannot afford to allow the Chinese to change the status quo near east Sikkim. Nor can we admit any suggestion that infrastructure development should be put on hold all along the border. Rather we must insist that this is a discrete event and that the Chinese attempt to change the status quo near the trijunction area is unacceptable.
At the same time, New Delhi must make a strong diplomatic effort to arrest the slide in ties with China. We need an agreement on mutual restraint that aims at addressing the core interests and concerns of both sides. The discussions between the Prime Minister and President Xi Jinping in May 2015 provide an ideal platform on which to mount such an effort. But this also requires a conceptual shift in our approach to China.
We must abandon the notion that our grand strategic choices boil down to either balancing against China in concert with the United States or bandwagoning with China.
The history of international politics suggests that this is too simplistic a reading of the options open to us — especially in the current global conjuncture. It is time we demonstrated strategic creativity and diplomatic agility.