Take on China with a multi-pronged approach

First the pandemic, then the economic challenges of the resulting lockdowns, and then came China, sneakily nibbling at our borders. We have to give China a befitting answer with a multipronged approach, for which we too as citizens should play a role

‘The lockdowns imposed to control corona have had a telling effect on our economy. We require more money to fight the battles at the borders and against corona but our income kitty is dwindling with falling tax collections’

Our country is in the midst of many problems. We are fighting on both our eastern and western borders. We are also in the midst of an aggravated corona pandemic. At the time of writing this column, the total cases of infection had gone beyond six lakhs with a corresponding rise in the number of deaths. We had started well with good and early lockdowns on the corona front, but after gradual unlocking and our carelessness, this battle too has moved to a serious stage. Thirdly, and not the least, we have a big battle on our economic front.

Economic challenge

The lockdowns imposed to control corona have had a telling-effect on our economy. There is a fall in industrial production, loss of jobs and lower tax collection. We require more money to fight the battles at the borders and against corona but our income kitty is dwindling with falling tax collections. How can we fight the three pronged battle? These battles have to be fought collectively as they are interwoven. The warriors of these battles are not only the brave soldiers at the borders and medical personnel in the hospitals but also all Indians in totality.

The battle with China is serious. Both the countries became independent almost at the same time (1947 and 1949 respectively). Both started as two populous and poor countries, with some advantage for India, as India had a large English speaking population and a disciplined war experienced army. Today, the Chinese economy is almost five times our economy and they have the biggest army in the world. There are inequalities in almost every sector, but still, the battle can be won with sheer determination, as has been shown by our brave soldiers in the Galwan Valley (on 15th June 2020). Twenty brave soldiers got martyred but not before killing about 50 Chinese soldiers, and that too only by their hand power, since there was no gunfight.

Historical blunders

The genesis of the problem with China lies in historical blunders. We believed that the Chinese were our friends, as evident from the tag line “Hindi Chini bhai bhai” in the 1950s when China was building highways on our territories and was in the process of grabbing Tibet, which had served as a buffer state between India and China. Then came the battle of 1962 for which we were not fully prepared. Our brave soldiers fought on the snowy hills against all odds and many laid their lives. We lost the battle badly.

This loss had two serious effects. First, we lost about 43,000 sq. km of our territory (Aksai Chin) and China became our neighbour on our border in the eastern sector, as the buffer state of Tibet had become a part of China. The second was the big defeat of 1962 that influenced the Indian psyche. It made India want to keep away from China and avoid any situation of going to war with China.

Fifty eight years have passed since the 1962 war and we have done nothing to get back our illegally occupied territory. Even a small country like Pakistan started drawing strength by aligning itself with China and thus provoking India. Our land and military policies were geared to maintain the status-quo on the line of actual control so as to have peace with China. An expansionist China considered it timidity on our part and kept on provoking us, as in the present situation. When China pursued the policy of ‘offence’, we pursued the policy of ‘defence’. The end result was like a serious disease that turned chronic.

At the moment, efforts are being made from both the sides to bring back the status-quo situation on the border as it existed in May. However, both the sides are also deploying brigades and heavy artillery. Our air force planes are seen flying in large numbers in the Ladakh area. Disengagement talks are going on and nobody knows the final outcome. But one point is clear, we are determined to win the situation and we are also sure that our brave soldiers will win the battle if it takes place.

Powering the forces

The government is working to provide more gun power and air power to our army and for this, fast acquisition of aircraft and missiles are being made. Even our navy is in full alertness to guard the seas. Our military policy is to wait for the opportune time to get back Aksai Chin and till then we will keep on adding more teeth to bite the enemy hard. We have recently started creating infrastructures like roads, helicopters, and proper airbases on our side of the LAC, and the need of the hour is to go for more such activities quickly. We should not commit the mistakes of the past and we should shed our fear-complex and prepare to take on the treacherous enemy head-on to solve the border dispute. We should have the confidence to fight the battle at both the eastern and western borders simultaneously.

There is no iota of doubt that a military battle if any with China will be won by us. China may have a quantitative army while we have a qualitative one. But to give a real fight to China we have also to work on two other fronts: diplomatic and economic. We have already started in a big way on the diplomatic front to isolate China. China has already suffered a dent in its image due to the coronavirus as it manipulated the WHO and delayed forewarning the world that the virus could spread through person to person contact.

India has spearheaded the global censure of China on this issue. Now a WHO body is headed by the Indian Health Minister as its rotational President, and this has helped to make the cry against China still more shrill. India along with other countries like the US and the UK has also emerged as very vocal players against China on the issue of grabbing of Hong Kong by China. India is seen speaking loud and clear on the issue of human rights violations by China on the Muslims of Uighur province. The US is leading the world on this issue and is seen raising it in its legislative forums.

‘There is no iota of doubt that a military battle if any with China will be won by us. China may have a quantitative army while we have a qualitative one. But to give a real fight to China we have also to work on two other fronts: diplomatic and economic’

Join with others

To curb the expansionist policy of China in the sea, India has joined the quad of powerful countries like the US, Australia and Japan. India is seen engaging in the naval exercises along with these countries to forewarn China. Now even the smaller countries of ASEAN are seen joining the bandwagon against China. India is seen as an emerging force against China in the global diplomatic initiative to isolate it.

It is the economic front which is very crucial for hitting China hard. China has emerged as the second biggest economic power. It is controlling the supply-chain of international trade and as a result, it has managed to have a trade surplus with most of the countries. India is no exception as we have a huge trade deficit with China. The government with its recent actions has clearly indicated that China is not the country India should have trade relations with. Many Chinese contracts are being cancancelled. Ministries are evolving policies against trade with China. The latest order of the government banning 59 Chinese apps, including popular TikTok, is indicative of the clear intent of not dealing with China. Citizens and many trade bodies are also engaged in the endeavour of boycotting Chinese products. The intention of the country and the people may be apparent, but its implementation may not be easy and speedy for the simple reason that the Chinese reach is wide-spread in our business. The Chinese have entered our business like ants and it will require a strong willpower to identify them and then weed them out.

Over-dependent

Our pharma industry is dependent upon China for basic raw materials like API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients) and we require to either manufacture such materials ourselves or get them from some other source. Our mobile industry is virtually taken over by China with an almost 72% market share. Samsung is a distant second and our indigenous units are right at the bottom. Similar is the case of our solar energy sector with all primary equipment coming from China.

It is really disturbing to note that our evolving sector of startups in many cases are dependent upon Chinese investments. Take the case of Big Basket, the biggest online grocery store which has 30% investment from Alibaba, a Chinese company. The very popular OLA cab, Paytm, Zomato, Swiggy, Make My Trip all have major Chinese stake. Chinese products come cheaper as they are produced in bulk with productive and government controlled labour and this is the reason why we purchase their products, including idols and agarbattis.

We Indians and our government have to work in unison to boycott Chinese products, Chinese funds, Chinese contracts and Chinese services. Products like idols, agarbattis, toys, agricultural produce should be immediately banned. There should be a steep rise of tariff on non-essential imports. We should go for import substitution manufacturing. Boycotting China should be taken as a patriotic mission.

We have to keep in mind that peace on our borders can be achieved by becoming stronger both militarily and economically. Nobody can dare to combat us if they feel scared in provoking us. As our Prime Minister said, we should follow the footsteps of Lord Krishna who plays the flute for his friends but will also simultaneously wields the ‘Chakra’ against his enemies. Our policy of friendship is our basic policy, but we must show our strength with countries like China and Pakistan. We must also understand that we are at a critical stage and the government alone cannot win unless we all Indians are behind it.