The world is at a cross road, a nation of 1.4B, with the second largest global economy; the largest active military worldwide; an all pervasive & powerful single political ideology dictated by the Chinese Communist party (CCP); and with practically all power concentrated in one man, General Secretary Xi Jinping, has gone off track threatening the peace in the region, and beyond.
It all started with the irresponsible handling by China, of the Corona virus, leading to a global spread of the pandemic. As on date (26 Jul 2020), there are 16.3 Million active cases, with 649,000 reported deaths worldwide, due to the virus. The pandemic has left the world staring at a global economic downturn and unemployment.
As the world was dealing with the pandemic, China started its belligerent actions, first in the South and East China sea, threatening nearly all littoral states, most notably Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, & Philippines, as also any other state that wanted accountability for the pandemic to be fixed, like Australia.
Then it turned its attention towards its borders with India and unilaterally altered the status quo that has existed for long at many locations along the LAC, suggesting that the decision was pre-meditated and made at a high level. Talks were initiated at the military and diplomatic levels to diffuse the situation. China did not honour its word of agreeing to disengage, which led to a tragic and deceitful watershed event at Galwan. It led to hardening of attitudes, and further talks. These were held at the military-diplomatic level to carry out a step by step disengagement, in a no-trust/ verify environment, which would be followed by de-escalation. These talks are hardly making any visible progress on the disengagement process, on the ground. Effectively, we are in a grey zone of a 'no war, no peace' situation. This is likely to continue to happen as long as China feels that we are incapable of defending what is rightfully ours. It happened in the 60s, it was regularised by a war in 1962 to create the Line of Actual Control, which is neither delineated, nor demarcated on ground. China will continue to creep this line westwards, as it is it's wont, after having gained the economic/ military/ technological/ industrial capabilities to do so. China wishes to be acknowledged as a great power in the Asian region, and wishes other states to defer and acknowledge this fact.
China has also laid claim to certain areas in Nepal and Bhutan too, in the meanwhile.
Both India and China are deployed in strength across the LAC, and it appears that this would be a long haul, to restore the status quo ante, which is India's primary condition for any further meaningful dialogue on resolving the border dispute. Militarily, India can hold its position in the Ladakh region in a short, limited war. However, the economic/ technological/ industrial disparity and the vastly different governance structures of the two countries will pose severe challenges on India in an all out war situation.
India and China have had very different economic growth trajectories over the years. Economic capability gives a nation the capacity to secure its national interests, in the modern world. Economic might is one of the key constituents of national power, besides others.
China initiated economic reforms and trade liberalisation in the 70s, implementing free-market reforms in 1979, which opened the country to foreign trade and investments, leading to a GDP growth that the World Bank described as “the fastest sustained expansion by a
major economy in history”, making China the second largest economy in the world. China has become
the world’s largest economy (on a purchasing power parity basis), manufacturer, merchandise
trader, and holder of foreign exchange reserves. This in turn has made China a major commercial
partner of the United States. China is now threatening the very system that fueled its meteoric rise from $91 billion in 1970 to a 14.14 Trillion economy in 2019.
India's growth trajectory has been rather slow during the same period, due to our own internal issues, chiefly a misconceived notion of socialism, red tape, quotas and inspector raj, corruption, over reliance on import of defence equipment, poor productivity in key sectors, over reliance on public sector, be it banks, industry or services, distrust of private enterprise, outdated laws that discourage foreign investment/ procedures that stifle entrepreneurship/ systems that strangle productivity/ priorities that are misplaced & encourages mediocrity, etc. The reasons are many and each one is valid.
However, Galwan is a wake up call for us if we wish to be counted as a self respecting and sovereign nation. China is our neighbour and is not going away any where. It system of governance will continue to be a challenge to any open and free democratic society, like India.
What is the way forward? Nothing comes easy, or cheap. We need to rise above our personal issues of caste, religion, region, language, etc, and unite as Indian citizens. Vote for the right people for the right reasons, so that we give to ourselves representatives who are ready to frame laws that create win-win for all citizens, and governments that govern, as per the Constitution, and the laws, ensuring uniform application or rule of law.
As citizens, each one of us has to resolve to work harder and smarter, in our respective fields to help our country prosper, to not only ensure that we can uplift nearly 1/6th of humanity, but also contribute to global peace by containing a belligerent China, which is an immediate, and long term threat.
We Indians are very emotional and patriotic, which is all very good, but our idea of patriotism is limited to lip service, and saluting the men in uniform, or shedding a tear on hearing songs like, 'aey mere watan ke logon..'.
True patriotism is about going beyond oneself, to do what it takes in thoughts, words or actions, all in the best interest of our country; do your own job well, and also trust others to do theirs. Rhetoric/ jingoism is not patriotism.
Why do you respect a soldier? It is for his selflessness, his willingness to give his all for something that we all hold dear to our hearts - our nation.
Doing one's own job to the best of our ability, is not asking for too much of each one of us. This will help us prepare for the long haul.
Four typical phrases that depict our attitudes, which need change...
- 'Chalta hai' - should not be an excuse to shun excellence.
- 'Kal kar lenge' - time is running out, kal never comes.
- 'Jugaad'- the negative aspects of this affects the quality of our products/ services.
- 'Baaki sab follow karein pehle' - Do your part, irrespective. You are doing it for your self, not others.
Let us grow up, as a nation.
Jai Hind.
“Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country,”
-- John F Kennedy.
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