Hey India, get a China Policy already

Since 1962, Indian policy in response to China flexing its muscle has been “see no evil, hear no evil”. Every once in a while, under media pressure, the government may wave around the Tibet card, but mostly all India wants to talk about on the issue of China is economy, factories and environment. As for issues like rising Chinese military power, Chinese support to Pakistan or frequent episodes of China making things awkward for India, there is only silence from New Delhi.

This week, China pulled the stapled visa trick again – this time on a couple of Arunachal Pradesh athletes. Once again, China said that since they do not consider Arunachal a part of India, they can’t recognize the Indian passports that athletes were carrying. Quickly the Indian Ministry of External Affairs swung into action and released a press briefing saying, “We have seen media reports on issuance of stapled visas...We have unequivocally conveyed to the Chinese side that a uniform practice on issuance of visas to Indian nationals must be followed.”  Yeah, because that has China trembling like a leaf.

Over the years, India and China has fallen into this routine: One day China would suddenly poke India with stunts like denying issuing stapled visa or taking a joyride across the Indian border. Indian government would immediately issue a press release like one above. A couple of days later, everyone will forget about the whole thing.

Meanwhile, China slowly keeps building its arsenal of issues. In foreign diplomacy, you need counter-claims to offset any disputes or to bargain. When India says Pakistan supports terrorism in Kashmir, Pakistan says India supports terrorism in Balochistan. When Pakistan says India holds Kashmir illegally, India says Pakistan holds Kashmir illegally.

But in case of China, China says Kashmir is disputed territory, we say Tibet is a disputed territory.  China says Kashmir is a disputed territory, we say Tibet is a disputed territory. China says India-US Nuclear Deal is a display of double standards, we say Tibet is a disputed territory... you see where I am going with this. 

What India needs to do is expand its quiver and add more arrows. Mark Leonard, an American scholar, has very helpfully listed out Chinese Achilles Heels, five issues that Beijing calls, the ‘five poisons.’ They are Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet, Mongolia and provinces around Korea. As a neighbour and competitor for regional primacy, India must work on including all five issues in its diplomatic arsenal. 

Look, I am not saying that India and China cannot be friends. I am saying whether it will be an equal friendship or an unequal one remains to be seen. If India keeps on meekly passing out press releases every time China flexes its muscles, China will make sure that it bullies India regularly. That’s simply common sense for Beijing. But if New Delhi let it be known that it has goodies on China and is not afraid to use them in a pinch, the friendship will be on equal terms.