SPEAKING
FREELY India and China can do the
unthinkable By Ritvvij Parrikh
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times
Online feature that allows guest writers to have
their say. Please
click hereif you are interested in
contributing.
Chinese sea lines
from the Middle East to its ports in South China
Sea pass through many choke points, most
importantly the Straits of Malacca. In times of
conflict, they are places where the supply of
crude oil and iron ore needed to keep the Chinese
economy growing could be cut.
Being a
sensible world power, China is trying to mitigate
the risks. First it has invested in a series of
ports dotted all across the Indian Ocean, in the
Seychelles, Pakistan, the Maldives, Sri Lanka,
Bangladesh and Myanmar. Next, China is investing
in road
and rail links, and
possibly gas pipelines, from Pakistan, Bangladesh
and Myanmar.
Recipients of this aid get
improved infrastructure, foreign investment and a
chance to earn transit fees from China. In return,
the China builds alternate trade routes and its
goods gain access to new markets. It is a win-win
deal for all - except India.
India sees
these Chinese investments with mistrust and as an
attempt to encircle it. Accordingly, in turn,
India is boosting its defense budgets, setting up
new corps in the areas bordering China, investing
in nuclear submarines and increasing the prowess
of its navy.
China is expanding its
railway network deep into Tibetan Autonomous
Region. It is building a 770-kilometer railway
line connecting Lhasa to Nepal and there are plans
to extend the line all the way to Nathu La, a
mountain pass connecting Tibet with India. These
investments have allowed China to pour in troops
into Tibet to quell unrests.
Since 2008,
the Indian economy has been facing policy
paralysis, unabated inflation, huge public debt
and budget deficit. India is trying hard to woo
foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country.
The government first tried to bring in FDI in
multi-brand retail, which was voted out by the
government’s allies.
During his visit to
South Korea for the Nuclear Security Summit in
March, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
pitched for Korean investment in India's
infrastructure sector. Later, at the BRICS summit
in New Delhi, he did the same, this time with the
outgoing Chinese premier. And now, the government
is planning to allow up to 49% in foreign direct
investment in the airline industry.
Against the backdrop of tense border
relations and a need for ties between their
markets, one must ask how India and China want to
see their respective relations shape up in the
coming years? Does China want India to team up
with the US, Japan, Vietnam and Australia? Does
India want China to keep it holed up in the
subcontinent? India will have to think out of the
box to solve these issues and perhaps do the
unthinkable, just as then United States president
Richard Nixon did by visiting China in 1972.
Taking all of this into consideration, New
Delhi must proactively offer Beijing a secured
transit route. The Indian navy ships will protect
and ensure safe delivery of Chinese cargo ships to
an Indian port in either the state of Karnataka,
Gujarat or West Bengal. From there, the cargo can
be transported via a dedicated rail corridor to
mainland China through either the Nathula pass in
Sikkim or Nepal or from Jammu and Kashmir, onto
Gilgit Baltistan and finally through the
Karakoram.
How does a transit route for
Chinese cargo through India help India and China?
It is a win-win situation. China gets an alternate
route through a more stable and lawful country
than through Pakistan or Myanmar. India on the
other hand can receive immediate Chinese
investments in infrastructure. And most
importantly, both countries sign a strategic
cooperative deal.
How does this affect
Indian security in case of a conflict between the
two nations in the future? For India successfully
defend and hold its territory in the north-eastern
states, India has to invest in improving if not
matching Chinese investments in infrastructure.
Improved infrastructure will only improve India’s
security state.
Ritvvij Parrikh
is a Mumbai-based social entrepreneur and a
geopolitics enthusiast, who can be contacted at
ritvij.j@gmail.com
Speaking Freely
is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest
writers to have their say.Please
click hereif you are interested in
contributing. Articles submitted for this section
allow our readers to express their opinions and do
not necessarily meet the same editorial standards
of Asia Times Online's regular contributors.
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