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| Proactive engagement of China is imperative | | | Karan Bandesha | 7/14/2011 10:20:15 PM |
| Should India be worried about China? This question is fraught with all the uncertainties that represent the relationship between the two countries in the Post-independence period when they, almost simultaneously, rid themselves of the British yolk to emerge as sovereign nation States. It is mostly remembered that the post-independence relationship between Indian and Pakistan is marked with the bloodshed of the partition, the attack on Kashmir and the War of 1947-48. It is, however, conveniently forgotten that the Indo-China relationship is also marked by the equally significant Indo-China war of 1962, when the latter inflicted upon us a humiliating defeat. The obsessive preoccupation of the Indian people with Pakistan is somewhat misplaced in view of its weak position in the South Asian sub-continent. The priorities/agendas that India should be setting for itself need to embrace a much wider scope which is most definitely China centric. In other words, it is China towards which we need to divert a major portion of our attention whereas we are simply not being able to get over the Pakistan syndrome that continues to, unreasonably, invade our collective psyches.
As it is, China is virtually a closed country with a media and polity held captive by an authoritarian regime, a lack of interest in its affairs by the Indian government, Indian media and the Indian people gives it all the more leverage to go about fructifying its policies in a relatively undisturbed manner.
China is significantly increasing its physical presence in Pakistan with the active connivance of the corrupt the self serving political and military leadership of the country. The Chinese ingress into Pakistan that was initiated with the construction of the Karakoram highway is now witnessing its upgrading along with construction of railway tracks and oil pipelines from Kashgar in Xinjiang to Gwadar port in Pakistan. The increased civil and military presence in the Gilgit-Baltistan region is a blatant exhibition of power by China.
As per a study undertaken by the Indian think tank IDSA, China is focused belligerently on the Pakistan occupied Northern Areas -“if the current pace of Chinese penetration is sustained, then China may completely take over Gilgit-Baltistan by the year 2020”, the study states most emphatically. “China has a strategic intent to dominate Pakistan Occupied Kashmir in general and Gilgit-Baltistan in particular”, the 54 page study report adds as an ominous signal of the times to come. Pakistan has ignored the resentment of the people of the Northern Areas against the increasing Chinese penetration. There is also a suspicion that Sunni Pakistan, with China’s support, may marginalise the Shia majority in Gilgit-Baltistan by attempting to change the demographic pattern through ethnic cleansing. China has literally created a free run for itself in the very heart of Pakistan. It can also be logically presumed that China has secured from Pakistan a sizeable chunk of the erstwhile principality of J&K in Gilgit-Baltistan. All of this will lead to colonisation of Pakistan in another form. China’s dealings with Pakistan will not only destroy the country, they will also pose severe problems in our immediate neighbourhood. It is time to sit up and take notice.
China is not fighting shy of joining issues with India also. Apart from the long standing border dispute it has plans to divert the Brahmaputra from its upper reaches. The Brahmaputra flows for about 1,625 km inside the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and for a further 918 km inside India. This is not the first time that tension is building up between India and China over Brahmaputra projects, which could affect the flow of water into India. While Beijing last year announced the construction of a $ 1.2 billion hydel power project on the Brahmaputra (known as Yarlung Tsangpo in China), it maintained that this project will not impact the flow of water to downstream countries like India and Bangladesh. Besides this, China has also drafted plans to tap the waters of Arun River that is called Kosi when it enters India.
On top of it all, China continues to avoid signing a water-sharing pact with India. The prospect of settling the long pending border dispute has been receding further and further. Exchanging maps or setting up bureaucratic study groups are fast becoming exercises in futility. Even a mere mention of joint satellite surveillance evokes vociferous allegations of snooping from our neighbour.
Internationally, China is also projecting itself as a bridge between Washington and Islamabad; there are interesting ideas afloat on how Beijing can build an exclusive regional cooperation framework with Pakistan and Afghanistan. “China, Pakistan and Afghanistan need to form a Pamir group, a strategic trilateral partnership to support sustainable peace and prosperity in the region”, wrote Li Xiguang, Director of the Centre for Pakistan Studies at the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing. He further exemplified his statement by saying that the “the Pamir countries could revive the silk road, with China intensifying its investment in building a network of roads, energy pipelines, electric grids and other infrastructure connecting Afghanistan and Pakistan with China”.
It is time for Indian policy makers to realize that China is slowly but surely positioning itself in a manner that would make India redundant in the sub-continental scheme of things and a marginal player in the world arena. It is working assiduously towards diminishing India’s aspiration to become a global power. India needs to leverage all of its resources, political, economic, diplomatic and military to stave off this very potent challenge. To stay happy playing games with Pakistan is not going to remove the Damocles’ sword that his hanging on our collective heads. If the border issue cannot be promptly settled by mutual give and take at the negotiating table then we need to knock at the doors of the International Court of Justice. Why not take this chance when both parties run equal risk of an adverse verdict?
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