Countering Chinese Multi domain War

 

Aggressive Behaviour From Nations Does Not Bode Well For Beijing 

The Lithuanians do not want Chinese smartphones. The Canadians expelled a Chinese diplomat. The Swiss want to romance Taipei. The Italians want to ditch the Belt and Road Initiative.

Across the globe, nations are unsheathing their swords against China. They are standing up to Beijing, decoupling or – as the new catchphrase goes – de-risking to ensure their future is not reliant on being in China’s good graces.

This aggressive behaviour from nations does not bode well for Beijing. Across the globe, governments are willing to take steps against the world’s second-largest economy that they dared not take against Washington. Does the world view China differently? Does China have gravitas in the eyes of other nations? Is China a serious power?

In less than one week, Canada reversed decades of friendly foreign policy towards Beijing.

It’s not just the expelling of a Chinese diplomat, or Canada shrugging off warnings that China will retaliate economically, or the “list” Ottawa is reportedly creating of foreign laboratories and universities that Canadian institutions cannot work with, a move seen as targeted at China.

With Spratly Islands cruises for tourists, Philippines uses ‘soft diplomacy’ to advance its South China Sea territorial claims

Tourism’s use as an economic or soft power weapon is not new. Just ask South Korea, which saw Chinese arrivals plummet amid a dispute with Beijing

The launch in the Philippines of cruises for tourists to three of the disputed Spratly Islands the country controls is a fresh exertion of ‘soft diplomacy’.

Strategic Kaleidoscope between India and China-Remain  nimble footed to counter Chinese multi domain war

Doubts had been raised in India about how important world powers would react if India hosted an international conference in Jammu and Kashmir. The answers to such queries were provided recently. India deliberately chose Srinagar to host G20 members who were focusing attention on the promotion of tourism. Srinagar is widely accepted as a tourist haven. Pakistan made all-out efforts to dissuade countries from attending the meeting. China predictably skipped the meeting and was joined by some Islamic countries — Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Indonesia and Turkiye. Indonesia and Saudi Arabia were, however, represented at the Srinagar meeting by their diplomats. Turkiye has been an ardent supporter of Pakistan for decades. It has chosen to remain less than friendly with India. 

Just over a week earlier, the National Security Advisers (NSAs) of India (Ajit Doval) and the US (Jake Sullivan) met in Saudi Arabia along with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman and Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, the NSA of the UAE. 

The US-India exchanges with the UAE and Saudi Arabia will hopefully enhance security, stability and cooperation across India’s oil-rich western neighbourhood. The understanding promoted by the US-India interaction with two oil-rich Arab states should now be carefully integrated with work in the U2I2 grouping comprising the US, the UAE, India and Israel. Stability and peace in a region where an estimated 8.1 million Indians reside, out of whom 3.4 million are based in the UAE, is of  importance to India.

Amidst these developments, the major security challenge that India has to face across its land and maritime frontiers arises from the continuing hostility of the Xi Jinping government. The conflict in Ladakh  commenced in 2020 when China seemed determined to move back to its unilaterally announced 1959 claim line. Beijing did not sufficiently succeed in this effort in the face of strong Indian resistance.

India has responded strongly by resisting Chinese efforts to seize territories in Arunachal Pradesh in the Tawang area. China’s aim is clearly to keep Indian troops deployed in difficult terrain and ice-cold weather in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh. China will soon realise that ‘salami slicing’ of small bits of Indian territory is not going to impact India’s growing relations with the US, Russia and Japan. Nor are they going to influence India’s determination to foster economic and defence ties through groupings such as the Quad and I2U2 across the Indo-Pacific region.

While Bhutan and India are linked by long-standing treaty commitments, China is now seeking to make inroads into Bhutan by negotiating a border agreement. Bhutan, with its long-term economic, cultural and spiritual links, is, however, sensitive to India’s concerns as it proceeds with its talks with China. 

China’s G20 Srinagar game plan was hollow. PoK to Taiwan to Tibet, India can turn the table

Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia will soon realise the drawbacks of aligning with China by boycotting G20 Srinagar meet. 

China remains engrossed in its long-term programme for strategic containment of India. This is a reality that India has to recognise and be prepared for a long haul. India’s response to this long-term reality of challenges that China poses has been gradually picking up momentum. This has involved maintaining good relations with Russia, despite western reservations. 

India is set to face the difficult task of ensuring that differences with China and rivalries between Russia and China on the one hand, and the US and its European allies on the other, do not hamper the success of the G20 Summit it is hosting later this year.