Being assertive with China — without fuss

It is a pity that the world’s emerging superpower has been busy playing bully in Asia, including South Asia. Whether it is in
asserting claims over the South China Sea or Kashmir, China has been flexing its muscles. India has been muted in its response so far, but this may be changing now.

The government of India has flatly told China that all defence talks are off unless and until China respects India’s territorial integrity by granting proper visas to persons from Jammu & Kashmir. A visa stamped on a piece of paper that is stapled to the passport will not do.

Beijing had also refused a visa to a high-ranking defence official on the specious charge that he had served in J&K.

India has made it clear that unless Beijing reverts to its earlier position, where it had accepted J&K as a part of India, there will be no further defence talks. While China is yet to reply, it is clear that New Delhi had been pushed to the wall by Beijing’s increasingly recalcitrant behaviour, not just vis-à-vis J&K but also regarding Arunachal Pradesh; recent Chinese maps online show India’s eastern-most state as a part of China.

It is not clear what Beijing hopes to achieve with its calibrated strategy of upping the anti-India ante when the Sino-Indian trade is booming. The reason for this may lie within China’s internal politics; all that New Delhi can do is to be extremely careful. By coincidence or by design, India’s principled stance towards China comes at a time when prime minister Manmohan Singh is in Japan on a visit. Tokyo and Beijing have just emerged from an ugly spat over territorial waters, and there is little doubt that the outcome of Singh’s visit is intensely awaited not just in Tokyo and New Delhi but also in Beijing.

The challenge for Indian policy-makers is to keep two strategic objectives in mind: making sure that trade is not affected, and that the war of nerves does not degenerate into a 1962-like situation. This means asserting our vital interests without undue bravado. The world will quietly applaud if we achieve this dual purpose.