China’s duplicity has once again been revealed. Five Indians were abducted while hunting on the Arunachal Pradesh border. Provocations continue even as government representatives of the two countries reached an agreement, proving once again that China cannot be trusted. On the one hand, India is facing internal provocations, including the failure to defend COVID-19 and the weakening of the economy, while the provocations of neighbouring countries on the border continue incessantly.
That China’s assurances in reconciliation talks are just nonsense is a fact that has already been established. China’s statement that India is responsible for all issues after the mutual understanding in the talks indicates that it will not back down from continuing the provocation. It is time for our rulers to realise that there is a need for a fundamental change in India’s policy towards China.
Prime Minister NarendraModi has spent a major part of his time in developing foreign policy since the NDA government came to power. Modi has made more trips abroad than any other Prime Minister in recent times. These trips paved the way for Modi to be a continued presence in foreign media in the end. Modi is also the most-visited Indian Prime Minister in China, which is currently violating the border.
Since coming to power in 2014, NarendraModi has met Chinese President Xi Jinping 18 times. The two leaders held several discussions and statements made during the meetings suggest that Modi thought that Xi Jinping was his friend. Modi thought that this friendship alone is enough to build good relations with China. After the meeting with Xi in China in October 2019, Modi said that the talks between the two leaders would take the relationship between India and China to a new level and that the people of both countries and the world would benefit from it. Less than a year after that meeting, China began a military operation on the border.
China continues to provoke India despite reconciliation talks after the killing of 20 Indian soldiers. Modi’s attempt to “elevate” India-China relations to a new level by spending a lot of money from the public treasury and the time of diplomats has failed miserably. Relations between India and China are reaching a “new level” where people in both countries view each other with hostility. The reality is that the last six years of efforts to develop foreign policy have not been to India’s advantage.
India’s relations with China and all its neighbours have never been so bad as in recent times. A foreign policy based on not trusting its neighbours can only serve to destabilsze the country’s borders. At a time when the economy is collapsing, border conflicts will be even more detrimental to the country. What our ruler needs to show at this time is the maturity to make thoughtful and rational decisions in foreign policy.
