Defence News
Experts: China’s ambitions may jeopardise India’s interests
The present quadruple of India-Australia-Japan-United States is not enough to deal with the challenge that China poses in the Indian Ocean and we have to bring in Europe and Vietnam on board.
This was stated by former Indian diplomat G Parthasarthy at a session on ‘Strategic perspective on China’ during Military Literature Festival here today.
He said the Indian Ocean was of a great concern to China and it might like to take control of the ocean, as 80 per cent of its petro-chemical trade was through this region.
He said China would not settle the border issue with India.
“We have to be prepared to defend our borders. Patience and diplomacy is the correct approach towards dealing with China,” he said.
He said: “China is an ambitious country which envisions being unchallenged in Asia and being on a par with the United States globally.
China has managed to dominate Asia through a clever mix of diplomacy and coercion.”
Cautioning that the China-Pakistan nexus was much stronger than believed, he said: “Building up Indian maritime power is crucial”.
He said for the first time, there had been resistance in Pakistan against China’s ‘One belt and One Road’ project due to its economic implications.
Lt Gen JS Bajwa (retd) said the recent development of China holding back funds for its ambitious China-Pakistan Economic Corridor that links Western China hinterland with sea, could mean that it is trying to get India on board for the project.
He said while China was satisfied with its politico-economic system and with what it has achieved, it would not take any such steps which could harm its interests.
Maj Gen BK Sharma said: “China’s forays into the Indian Ocean have implications on the strategic environment in South Asia, which needs to be balanced.”
Stating that the India-Japan-Australia-US quadruple needs to be strengthened, he said India should also work towards building strategic trust with China.
Claude Arpi, a Chinese expert, said though China has been traditionally wary of having minorities in the armed forces, the trend has reversed.
Speaking on lessons learnt from the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka, Lt Gen Depinder Singh, the then General Officer Commanding-In-Chief (GOC-in-C), Southern Command, said when the force went in, the government had no clear-cut political objectives and the individual training of the soldiers was found to be wanting.
The force initially had a high tri-service component, but as time went and there was little action, the Navy and Air Force elements began to reduce steadily on the pretext of employing resources elsewhere.
Col Anil Kaul, a decorated veteran, spoke about his combat experience in Sri Lanka.
Experts also discussed the role of Indian soldiers in the World War I. These included military historian Alan Jeffreys from the UK, Lt Gen PK Singh, Director United Service Institute, Prof Rakesh Datta from Punjab University, journalist Rahul Bedi and writer Pushpinder Singh Chopra.
Various aspects of the first war of independence in 1857 were also discussed at another session.
GL Batra, father of Param Vir Chakra recipient Capt Vikram Batra, spoke about the communication with his son from the battlefield during the 1999 Kargil conflict.
He said the stories of martyrs and war heroes need to be immortalised for the benefit of future generations.
Rachna Rawat Bisht, Rahul Singh and Shiv Aroor spoke about their books covering tales of gallantry. Col Balwan Singh, decorated with the Maha Vir Chakra in Kargil, spoke about the physical and psychological aspects of bravery and the motivation behind the acts of gallantry.
