It’s probably the tip of the iceberg of China’s ambitions to thwart India’s emergence as a significant economic and maybe diplomatic and military power. I’m referring to what might appear to some to be a crazy article on a Chinese strategic issues website, which claims that China could “dismember the so-called ‘Indian Union’ with one little move”.
The writer has argued that India’s national unity is weak and that China could exploit this by supporting separatist forces, such as those active in India’s north-east state of Assam, and split the country into 20 or 30 sovereign states.
“There cannot be two suns in the sky. China and India cannot really deal with each other harmoniously,” said the article. That almost certainly reflects Beijing thinking, even though the founder of the website has claimed the anonymous writer has no known government links.
The article was posted last Saturday and was publicised in India yesterday, prompting the Indian foreign ministry to say it appeared to be “an expression of individual opinion and does not accord with the officially stated position of China on India-China relations conveyed to us on several occasions”. But what else could India say – especially since the article coincided with apparently cordial talks between the two countries on their border that has been disputed since China defeated India in a brief 1962 Himalayan war.
It is not unusual for China to fly such extreme kites. Philip Bowring of the Hong Kong-based Asia Sentinel website pointed out in a New York Times article two days ago that the arrest last week of two Rio Tinto executives in Beijing for alleged theft and corruption followed an internet article written by an official of China’s National Administration for the Protection of State Secrets, which accused Rio of commercial “spying” that had cost the nation $100bn in higher iron ore prices – an accusation says Bowring that “does not stand up to the most casual scrutiny of trade data”. Bowring then points out that “although the article is no longer on the website, its claims have not been corrected and its imprint on Chinese minds will not disappear”.
The imprint of the India internet article will also not disappear because, whatever the two countries may say officially, it sums up what has been happening for years.
As James Lamont and Amy Kazmin explained a month ago in an excellent FT round-up of the two countries’ tortuous relations, China has been encircling India by developing influence and outposts in Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, and wants to usurp India’s major role in controlling the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea.
Pakistan, which China has armed and helped become a nuclear power, has been destabilising India first in Punjab (in the 1980s) and then in Kashmir. China has also for years been encouraging separatist forces in India’s north-eastern states, including Assam, and will no doubt use its growing clout in Myanmar – and Bangladesh – to increase those activities. In the future it could perhaps use its growing influence in Sri Lanka – where it is developing a naval base and advised the government in the recent defeat of the Tamil Tiger separatists – to cause unrest among linked Tamil communities in southern India.
It has also strengthened its border claims – for example by opposing a $3bn Asian Development Bank aid project in Arunachal Pradesh, an Indian border state that China claims as “south Tibet”. And it tried to block international approval of the recent India-US nuclear deal with the US.
This is of course a dangerous game and sometimes India has to respond – recently for example by moving fighter jets to the China border and, of course, by meddling in other countries, as a comment by Abhyaan (below) explains.
I have heard a former senior Indian bureaucrat argue privately that China’s basic – and permanent – aim is to force India to focus on domestic issues and thus thwart it becoming a future international rival.
China, according to this view – which is surely correct – is determined to be the world’s sole superpower after America, and does not want that status to be upset by a strong and democratic India backed by the US and Europe. Its tactics have become more insistent in the past two years as it has become irritated by India’s growing links with the US, culminating in the nuclear deal.
Everything that China does in relation to India therefore has to be seen through that prism. India will not fragment into 20 or 30 pieces – it is far too unified for that – but there is no prospect of permanent peace and co-operation between the two countries because, as the internet writer has said, “there cannot be two suns in the sky”.
This post is also on:
The FT’s
and Hong Kong-based
http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2006&Itemid=422 where there are many more comments in addition to those below
John Elliott
Ok! Lets put things Straight.
China is not a kid nation like Pakistan. But It is fully capable of being dangerous like England (british) in past. Divid & Rule!
It has thoughtfully placed its cards… growing military strength,
Encouraging naxals, terrorists & unhappy groups within & outside India.
Many years of playing pranks on Indo-China-Tibet border.
Openly interfering in Indo-Pak fight. Helping Pakistan of course.
Many many such things to take note of.
ANSWER to Chinese dragon????
“” Give China taste of its owns venom “”
Brothers! do you think china is practicing Ram-rajya or what? hehehe. Smarter species know what I am saying. Tit for Tat.
Shank
Indian
By: SHANK on October 22, 2009
at 3:59 pm
We are the world, stop being separatists!
Whoever you are, wherever you are!
All mankind should live in peace and harmony side by side, didn’t the WW1 and WW2 human history taught a lesson to those spreading or creating or implying something to get certain media coverage or whatever is the intension “China aims to block India’s place in the sun”, another western invasion of asia in a form of cunning separatists’ way? The global power is shifting to the east now, so China and India will rise together and the Eastern countries will replace the western countries! Nothing lasts forever! The law of nature, so pls just be natural about things happening by its nature!
By: akon on September 9, 2009
at 2:13 am
Same neighbourly post but there are some burden where I wish not agree. But blanket its completely good.
By: enlargement on September 7, 2009
at 8:07 pm
The article that Elliott reports on has been making a lot of waves in India, and as pointed out, elsewhere as well. In context, the exciting story of this century appears to be India and China. Hopefully it will include many others as well, but these two are just so much bigger that they attract attention. Unfortunately, both countries have ambitions to be major powers. Haphazard analysis such as the article in China is the result.
I am surprised at the reactions of Indians on this message board (except Animesh). As an Indian I am the least perturbed by it, and just shook my head thinking “Indians and Chinese seem to know so little about one another”. The Chinese, disciplined, and mostly united behind their ideology and way of life, are suitably appalled at what they see as a fractious India. And it is! It is also India’s strength that it does nothing to hide what it is. It is there for everyone to see, warts and all. So it appears disunited, ready to fall apart.
Predictions about India breaking apart have been making the rounds for the last sixty years. It has yet to happen. What will cause it, how it can be made to happen, all of these have been discussed. And maybe it will. India has never claimed to be a “thousand year Reich”. The Indian experiment is still young. But if it does break apart then it will not happen because of China. It may happen for other reasons wholly internal.
A major difficulty with much of China’s assessments is that they are based on a narrow nationalistic view that takes little joy in the diversity that exists in the world, the possibility that “harmony” can come about even in a chaotic democracy. There is some insularity here.
A major difficulty with India’s assessments is that it is overly sensitive to anything that the Chinese say or do. Seeing their neighbor as being more efficient and united, and more powerful, they have developed a thin skin. They bristle at reports like this. They wish they could be world-beaters like China, but they don’t have the will today to correct the deficiencies of the system. They hide behind their democracy and blame their inefficiency on it. What they don’t understand is that much of the world has democracy as well, and doesn’t seem to suffer from it.
I suggest that Indians relax on their verandahs with a glass of fresh mango juice, sip it, read their daily newspapers which detail the wonderful, terrible, and rich chaos that India is, and admire its real strengths. Things will change, and they are changing even today. With some discipline and a greater concern for public good, they will make faster progress. They should realize that India is vulnerable, as is China. And yet Indians have a reasonably decent machinery in place, and one which is visible to the rest of the world, no matter how flawed. China, which is efficient and wonderful in itself, should take a good hard look at it.
Both nations are old and wise. Both will survive. Let us all survive and find peace!
By: Ratnam on September 6, 2009
at 11:16 am
Sorry for my bad english. Intresting title. It attracted me to read the complete post. Thanks
By: Debt Settlement on September 4, 2009
at 4:38 pm
Kanwal Sibal, a former Indian Foreign Secretary, has an article on this subject in today’s The Telegraph (Calcutta). In it, he writes
“…………..In a country like China with a controlled press, the political connotation of such articles is difficult to ignore. Such writings have appeared in the Chinese media after many years, and at a time when China’s position on boundary differences has hardened, provoking speculation that China may well stage some border incident to deflect attention away from mounting internal economic and social problems caused by the global economic downturn. China’s leaders like Ziang Zemin had a certain degree of contempt for the Indian military’s fibre. A few suitably intimidatory articles, it might still be thought, would send a salutary message to India’s cautious political leadership.
An unequal strategic equation is at the root of India-China problems. For India, China is the principal strategic adversary; for China it is the US. China is principally preoccupied with the situation in the Taiwan Straits, while India’s preoccupation, apart from Pakistan, is with its border with China. China already has deterrent capabilities against India, while India is still developing them. China has much greater capacity to intervene in India’s neighbourhood and can impose punishing costs on India by supporting internal insurgencies, especially in the North-east. China has expanded its military infrastructure in Tibet, while India has neglected it on its own side. India has irrevocably recognized China’s sovereignty over Tibet, that China exploits to make further territorial demands on “southern Tibet”( Arunachal Pradesh)…………..”
For the full article, go to
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090901/jsp/opinion/story_11434603.jsp
By: John Elliott on September 1, 2009
at 2:47 pm
Judging from the responses from Indian posters, John has been very successful in instigating the so-called China-India rivalry.
I’m amazed that an anonymous post in a Chinese website could create such a stir.
Among all the responses, only Animesh shows any calm and coolheadedness at all.
You guys should be so easily manipulated. Have some confidence in you and your country.
By: greg on August 25, 2009
at 2:34 am
For an expansionist and authoritarian nation like China that has faught border wars with Russia, Vietnam and India, and has ongoing border disputes with Japan, Phillipines, Vietnam and India, its mantra of “peaceful rise” is a big joke !
China however has a clear vision of their future goal and functions in an organized and planned manner.
In contrast a “functional anarchy” India, largely ruled by the Congress party, has lacked any vision for the nation. The nation under Congress rule has been turned into a soft state in the past six decades.
The Chinese have a strong sense of nationalism, and Indians by contrast has been taught to feel apologetic about everything nationalistic.
Chinese evil designs against India is nothing new. China has been stoking fire in the North-East particularly Nagaland since decades.
It is Indian leadership, right from the days of Nehru, that are in a state of denial and never had a strategy to deal with this threat.
India can not match China in any conventional war, but has the ability to inflict unacceptable damage on China in an unconventional war. This is the only viable option for India.
China need to be told in no uncertain terms that in the event India is pushed too far, Beijing, Shanghai, Hongkong and a dozen industrial cities would be vapourized in a matter of hours. China’s new found prosperity and confidence would come to a naught. They need to factor this risk in their calculations against India.
By: neel123 on August 22, 2009
at 10:41 pm
The article have substance which the Indian security strategist must not over looked. The way China have dump their military asset to GOSL during the Eelam War is a clear indication on China’s future strategy to clamp India. If there is no change of foreign policy from New Delhi administration then India will be in a mess situation in coming years.
By: raveendran on August 19, 2009
at 8:52 am
The recent Chinese outbursts are the result of some regional and economic developments:
1.) The rout of the Communist Party (Marxist) in the Indian elections. These arm-chair Marxists had deftly put road blocks to infrastructure and industrial projects to prevent India catching up/keeping pace with China. They tried hard, unsuccessfully, to sabotage the Indo-US Nuclear Deal. The once venerable’ Hindu’ newspaper, now turned in to Pravda-style fabricator by its Communist editors lead the charge. Mani Shankar Iyer, as Energy minister acted in Iran’s rather than India’s interests. He was also a casualty in the polls.
2.) Obama Administration belied China’s hopes that he would abandon Bush’s pro-India policies.
3.) As NY Times columnist, Tom Friedman reported, the Chinese were puzzled and worried at the resilience of the Indian economy in the wake of the Financial Melt Down and Bombay terrorist attacks.
4.) The fall of the LTTE in Sri Lanka handed China a diplomatic-strategic coup. Despite Delhi’s overt and covert help to Colombo, the latter’s pathological anti-India hatred surfaced again. The Rajapackshe brothers embarked on a soft silent genocide of the Tamil minority and a closer partnership in China’s encirclement of India. China also hoped to harness the deep resentment in Tamil Nadu.
India’s ponderous bureaucracy and smug Congress leadership are slowly waking up to the realities. Ironically, China’s clumsy attempts have the opposite effect – Indo – U.S. ties will strengthen in to a formal defense pact. The LTTE (which killed Rajiv Gandhi) out of the way, Mr. Karunanidhi, Tamil Nadu State’s skillful Chief Minister, a reliable Congress ally would guide New Delhi towards reversing the Sri Lankan situation to India’s and Tamil’s advantage – to the chagrin of China! The exports dependant Chinese economy unraveling and with it the oppressive totalitarian State, the Communist Mandarins of the Middle Kingdom may be left in the cold – with their pants down!
By: Thiruvengadam Ramakrishnan on August 17, 2009
at 11:03 pm
The moment you think of destabilizing some other country, this shows how much of a coward you are.
Why cant we co-exist as nations without competing?? Are we all not human after all!!
If China is a Buddhist country, it seems to have not got the point of Buddhism!!
India as a country has always been invaded by outsiders for the simple reason that people were never in for a war. The whole nation’s search was always inward, like the Buddha!
By: Pramod Paluri on August 17, 2009
at 9:23 pm
I love how the Chinese immediately blames anything on “Westerners” and “White people”.
They should be glad this little opinion piece wasn’t published more widely – it would only serve to inflame Indian sentiments and unite the country even more.
By: rodinhas on August 17, 2009
at 8:53 pm
Aksai Chin was invaded by China and needs to be returned peacefully, or ELSE!!
By: Vimana on August 17, 2009
at 2:44 pm
This title should have been rephrased as:West (principally US) aims to block Asia’s rightful place in the sun.
Beware of the real enemy behind this farcade. Who stands to lose if Asia rises & conversely, gain if Asia flounders?
If Chindia comes to blow, the winners will only be US & Russia~the armament merchants of death. It would have surely helped prolong the Caucasian Centuries to beyond 500 years which they have so far achieved.
Better for Chindia to remain focussed on improving the living standard of our people instead of dancing to the war tunes of these whitemen. Perhaps Chindia can solve the overpopulation problem by buying out the whites & redistribute Australia & New Zealand between ourselves. It is win-win, isn’t it?
By: Chindia on August 17, 2009
at 11:25 am
It’s very insightful assessment of India-China relation in recent time. The border talks between both countries don’t look much productive and China’s assertive stand ( like using quasi-government bodies to claim over Arunachal Pradesh and officially engage in talks) is making things more difficult.
By: Som Patidar on August 16, 2009
at 10:44 pm
X-posting this from another forum:
The number of Chinese frothing at the mouth and wanking themselves silly over the internet over this desultory piece of “opinion” by some namesake retard passing himself off as a Chinese “analyst” astounds me. What is even more amusing is the number of Pakistanis getting a kick out of this chunk of drivel. Amusing indeed it is to see them squirm and wiggle as the only way they can dream of a ‘thousand cuts’ to India is by piggy-backing on the bantam shoulders of their everlasting ally (….NOT.)
To be just as obtuse and un-strategic about this as the author of this brash and impetuous jabber, India could just as well “split China into twenty to thirty different nation-states” by “joining forces with different nationalities” such as the infinitely trialled Tibetans, the undone and repressed Uighurs, the colonized state of Inner Mongolia, the Government of Manchukuo in exile or the Hong Konger Front.
China has tried time and again to “bring into its fold” countries like Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan. It’s policy in Nepal has fallen flat on its face, with the Maoist regime out in a flash; Pakistan remains more astringed by its chain-and-ball alliance with the US than ever before with its virtual existence impinged upon by 11.8 billion dollars in foreign aid by US-domineered aid agencies, its leaders groveling at the feet of the US at every available opportunity, and the mushrooming of miniature US-bases in the form of 1000 marine-garrisoned fortress-like ‘US embassies’ in Islamabad – in addition to the bases already established at Shamshi and what not; Bhutan remains an Indian satellite-state, its economy and military virtually circumscribed within an unyielding sphere of influence. Burma and Sri Lanka remain an interesting tussle, even as India steadily encroaches into China’s traditional ‘backyard’: ASEAN and Central Asia, in small, yet significant steps.
Let me not even begin on the ‘caste system’. Anyone with even a limited knowledge of Chinese history will know that the Chinese have had a more than rudimentary acquaintance with the “caste system”. Several dynasties in northern, but particularly southern China, had social stratification based on class, segregated along cultural and political lines. In the Song and Qi dynasties for instance, the dominant class: the ‘She zu” controlled govt. offices and functions of the court, while the “Han men” were selectively excluded from participation in all aspects of social and cultural life. In the Mongol-controlled Yuan dynasty, subjects were divided into four castes, with northern and southern Han chinese occupying the second-most and most subordinate classes respectively. In the Yunan region, Yi society was divided into four castes, with the scum: the Ajia and the Xiaxi, being slave castes. Infact, the Aristocrats were famous for their slave raids on Han chinese communities.
More on that here:
Intimate exclusion: race and caste turned inside out – By Martin Schoenhals
‘Four-Class System’ of Yuan Dynasty – at The China Travel Guide
And: Power and privilege: a theory of social stratification – By Gerhard Emmanuel Lenski (from page 285 on)
The extent of the polarization and the gulf ensuing due to the social stratification between Northern and Southern dynasties was so vast, that they regularly referred to each other as ‘barbarians’. Laughable then for a nation that has had such a deeply ingrained system of caste- until as late as the 20th century- to be deriding another nation that is struggling, but striving to change the minds and hearts of its citizens.
Any misadventure by the Chinese state will not only exhort a similar response from India, who is by no means similarly underequipped or unwilling to defend its territory (as when it failed to do in 1962 after encroaching upon chinese forward-bases and disputed territory that they eventually took back), but it will also evoke consternation from the international community- upon which China is so eager to impress its ‘peaceful rise’ as a safeguard to its economic dependence.
The last line of the article by Dr. S Rajan that summarily dealt with and dispatched the Chinese article says it all:
“In any case, an approach of panic towards such outbursts will be a mistake, but also ignoring them will prove to be costly for India.”
By: Shiraz on August 16, 2009
at 5:14 am
As for the ‘Chinese government’s advice on beating the Tamil Tigers’, make no mistake about it: the defeat would not have been possible without India being desirous of the same. It is worth keeping in mind for instance, that the Tamil Tigers assasinated the husband of the most powerful woman in the country, and the father of the nation’s next political scion. Were it not for India supplying the Srilankans with radar and other equipment, and more importantly, sealing off its borders to exiled and escaping Tamil Tiger commanders and patrolling maritime straits to thwart them, the war might neither have been successful nor decisive.
China’s encirclement of India in Nepal and Bangladesh have come to a head in recent developments: in particular the ouster of the Sino-backed Maoist regime in Nepal, and the establishment in Bangladesh of an overtly India-friendly government. As well, Pakistan remains effectively locked in the unwithering control of the United States, and that control has and looks only to be consolidated. Moreover, India is doing its own encirclement of China vis-a-vis Afghanistan, Central Asia and strategic military relationships with countries in the Far East.
The “strategic relationship” between India and the US has certainly not “culminated” with the nuclear deal. Behind the scenes, there exists extensive cooperation on regional security issues and on the nature of US foreign investment. To bolster and strengthen the growing Indian economy, there have been a flurry of initiatives recently to outsource manufacturing to India to a greater extent- and that trend will become apparent in coming days. It is also becoming increasingly apparent that India is set to procure the US F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet under what is known to be the world’s largest defense acquisition – the MMRCA project. The transfer of advanced civilian nuclear technology is simply the tip of the iceberg.
To Nick’s question of ‘India’s options’, it is fair to say that India’s RAW- its external service agency- is actively involved in fomenting trouble in Xinjiang in China and Tibet via ‘embassies’ in Afghanistan and contacts in the Tibetan exile community in Dharamsela. I expect the Indian establishment will seek to ramp those up if the unwritten agreement on Chinese silence on Kashmir and Arun’achal Pradesh in exchange for India’s silence on Tibet is broken.
In addition to fighter jets, India has also deployed 60,000 troops along the border with China in Arun’achal Pradesh, as well as T-72 tanks and heavy-lift choppers. India is also actively countering China’s hegemonic designs in the region by constructing the Chabehar port in Iran for instance – in response to the (plagued) construction of the Chinese Gawadar port in Pakistan, and signing strategic, security and military cooperation agreements with countries in the Middle East: Egypt, Qatar, Oman and Algeria come to mind.
India is also investing heavily in its relations with Africa to counter China’s ‘cash for diplomacy’ policy in the region, in addition to competing for oil contracts against Sinopec and PetroChina (although the Chinese are far ahead in this respect) – most recently in the announcement of a 4.6 Billion dollar investment in Ethiopia.
By: Abhyaan on August 16, 2009
at 5:09 am
Obviously, you read Chinese? I tried to go t the website, but cannot read a word (sign)…
Nor can I read it Francois but, as you’ll see in my answer to Texan below, it has been extensively reported in English. je
By: Francois on August 16, 2009
at 12:34 am
this post has been picked up on a Defence website where there are more comments – http://www.defenceforum.in/forum/current-affairs-politics/4394-china-aims-block-india-s-place-sun.html#post54546
je
By: Anonymous on August 15, 2009
at 9:50 pm
I think this is something the Indian government understands very well. George Fernandes ,when he was the Defence minister , created a stir, by declaring China as Indias main threat.
The Chinese will not allow settlement of the border disputes as it gives them a “legitimate” reason for neutralising Indias growing stature, whenever it needs, as it did in 1962.
Does India have any deterrent? At present no. Its an asymmetric relationship and we can only hope China will implode like Soviets, and Pakistan which all tried to detablise other countries .
As they say it is dangerous to ride on a tiger. You can neither stay as you are nor can you get off it.
By: Raj on August 15, 2009
at 6:21 pm
How can a renegade group ULFA running around Assam and planting bombs can disintegrate India and get support from China to split India 20 to 30 pieces.ULFA is in run and their camps are in Burma.
By: Ankash on August 15, 2009
at 12:35 pm
John,
The only reason you wrote this article by picking up something from a bogus site, that have no credibility is to drive traffic to your website and get more comments.
This is not journalism.
This is desperation on your side.
Ouch! I suggest you search – India China website – in Google News and you will find the story reported in most Indian newspapers and many outlets around the world including the Financial Times, BBC, and international newswires. je
By: TEXAN on August 15, 2009
at 1:35 am
By publishing such stupid articles the Chinese media and their stupid politicians are only giving the pro-nuclear and missile lobby in India more reason to continue developing more nuclear forces/weapons.
I will not be surprised if the next conflict between India and China quickly becomes a nuclear conflict costing tens of millions of lives on both sides.
Time for stupid Chinese politians, military planners and media to wake up and think realistically.
By: Vijay on August 14, 2009
at 9:12 pm
[...] Elliot’s latest article “China aims to block India’s place in the sun” can be found in his blog “Riding the Elephant.” Go check it [...]
this refers to a blog (left) which suggests that I’m American AND “some say….CIA” – I’ve told him I’m not American but British, nor CIA! – je
By: China could “dismember the so-called ‘Indian Union’ with one little move” « Selvarajasomiah's Weblog on August 14, 2009
at 2:49 pm
Thanks John. Could not agree with you more.
By: G. Parthasarathy on August 14, 2009
at 10:08 am
I don’t think such frivolous ‘think tank plans’ should warrant any serious thought.
China like India is far more complex to be slotted as a bad or good guy.
I think the ‘idea of India’ runs deep within most of this inhabitants and the state is powerful enough to stop it from breaking up, albeit at cost of internal bloody Armageddon (in extreme cases).
So, Chinese strategist will be better of planning how to capture Indian market and increase mutual trade manifold from current $57 billion.
I don’t entertain this perception in democratic world (including India) that sees China as one huge efficient monolithic machine. It sure is greatly efficient but rational human reasoning prevails in ostensibly ‘autocratic’ societies. India should develop a more nuanced view of this surging dragon based on long history of mutual co-existence. Chinese should do the same.
By: Animesh on August 13, 2009
at 8:48 pm
What a nice way of dreaming, I’m pretty sure their dream ends up in nightmare only if it is their true intention.
By: smitha on August 13, 2009
at 7:36 pm
1. “Never” is a hard word and assumes that the political structure of China will remain to be dominated by an authoritarian and militarist Communist Party.
2. Perhaps the Chinese Communist-Imperialists had assumed that they were already in the saddle in India courtesy of their stooges in India. The UPA’s break with the CPM & Co. may have come as a surprise, as also the elections that followed. Part of the reason for the bluster is surely the result of the frustration — so close, yet so far.
By: S. Chaudhuri on August 13, 2009
at 7:28 pm
Very interesting article John.
What options do India have? As a democracy with ties to Europe and the US, they surely can’t use the same sabotage tactics as China?
However, is concentrating on development, as they are, enough to thwart China’s intrusions?
I guess the worry is that China is turning up to a boxing match with their gloves off and India’s gloves tied tightly on.
Nick
thanks Nick. In a comment (above) Abhyaan helpfully mentions that India is active in countries that can worry China – though, I think, less successfully. India is also often accused of meddling in Pakistan – its suspected activities in its Baluchistan province have been in the headlines recently because the Indian prime minister allowed reference to unrest there to creep into an India-Pakistan communique.
On your development point, China is already outstripping India as a world economic power. India’s democratic model moves more slowly, but of course is more sustainable. – je
By: Nick on August 13, 2009
at 5:42 pm