From Response to Infra, How India Has Upped Its Game Against China Since 2014

Since 2014, India has responded to China on multiple occasions, at times through strong messaging, signalling or by issuing strong statements on issues concerning national security and by showcasing ongoing infrastructure projects at strategic locations.

In the past one month, India has been batting on the front foot. With every development, India is posturing itself strongly against China in terms of messaging, strong statements and showcasing the mighty border infrastructure it is building.

If China is highlighting its foreign engagements after Xi Jinping came to power for the third time, India, too, is a new diplomatic capital of the world, with G20 Summit and SCO meetings, where each month, on an average, New Delhi receives two Heads of State, various dignitaries, foreign ministers and delegations working in various fields.

As per the data provided by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to Parliament, there were 102 visits to India by foreign dignitaries, including presidents and prime ministers, in the past two years between January 2020 and March 2022. Since January, Australian PM Anthony Albanese, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida were some of the high-profile state visits.

IN RECENT PAST

Recently, tensions grew between India and China when China released invented names of places in Arunanchal Pradesh. It received a strong reaction from New Delhi. Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson of the MEA, said, “Arunanchal Pradesh was, is and will always be remain an integral and inalienable part of India.”

Even when newly appointed foreign minister of China Qin Gang met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in New Delhi on the sidelines of G20, the photo of the meeting was tweeted from the latter’s Twitter handle with a caption, “Discussions were focused on addressing current challenges to the bilateral relationship, especially peace and tranquility in the border areas.”

India had made its stand clear that the relationship between two countries should be based on three factors – ‘mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interest’.

Bhutan’s Prime Minister Lotay Tshering made a controversial statement which raised several eyebrows and which was not received well in New Delhi where he, in a way, gave China equal say as one of the parties after India and Bhutan in the resolution of the TriJunction dispute.

A few days post that, India received Wangchuck and discussed the ‘entire gamut of ties’, including border issues. Post the visit, the Foreign Secretary made a statement in a press conference saying, “India and Bhutan remain in close touch relating to our shared interest, including security interest.”

“Besides this exemplary and unique relationship between India and Bhutan, we also have a time tested framework of security cooperation,” said Vinay Mohan Kwatra.

INDIA’S VVP VS CHINA’S XIAOKANG

China claims 90,000 sqkm of Arunanchal Pradesh as its territory. It calls the area ‘Zangnan’ in the Chinese language and makes repeated reference to ‘South Tibet’. The list, naming 11 places, was the third one, before the ones released in 2017 and 2021.

This time, India not only countered China with a statement, but with a high-profile visit of Home Minister Amit Shah to Arunanchal Pradesh, with a launch of Vibrant Village Programme for Bordering Districts.

India plans to develop border villages in Arunanchal Pradesh as tourist hubs through a civil military partnership as an answer to China’s model village Xiaokang close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

China has built more than 628 Xiaokang villages across LAC in areas stretching from eastern Ladakh to Arunanchal Pradesh in the past decade.

According to officials in the know, “These villages will act as a buffer and watch posts along the border and help prevent infiltration.”

They can act as ‘extended troop cantonments’ in times of hostilities. It is also an attempt to change the demographics of people living in area.

As the Indian government is doing the needful in the border villages of LAC, the plan is also to actively consider promoting tours to World War II plane crash sites, with emphasis on developing homestays, treks, camping sites and spiritual activities to promote tourism and also setting up a commercial landing ground for helicopters at Walong to make access to the remote state easier.

After Shah, other senior minister Nitin Gadkari also made a visit to Kashmir to review the work of Zojila tunnel. The tunnel, said to be Asia’s longest of its kind, will provide all-year, all-weather connectivity between Srinagar and Leh and also significantly cut down travel time. As part of the ongoing project to improve connectivity in the region, 19 tunnels are being constructed at a cost of Rs 25,000 crore.

OBSERVERS SAY

Namrata Hasija, a scholar on China, said, “China is doing everything to discredit this government, they are not liking India’s border development. They did not like when Ladakh was made a separate Union Territory and the way we reacted in Galwan. We did not show a complacent attitude. We still have the largest force deployment along the LAC. India is reacting and giving stern signals to China which Xi Jinping’s administration is not liking.”

The way the government has taken India on a world stage and postured, even if not the first, surely India has become a second favourite destination for diplomacy and trade in the past few years. The only dominant power in Asia is India after China which is giving tough fight.

Observers say that as Jinping has repeated his third term, the pressure is enormous on him to perform on the various issues on the agenda of the Communist Party. Some even say that China may be giving a sense that Taiwan is its priority, but the possibility of some action related to India cannot be denied as Jinping wants to show its people that he is delivering on the core agendas. The support of the US and that they don’t share a border acts a deterrent in case of Taiwan. In case of India, taking advantage of the land border, China could plan some action. Given the track record, China only speaks on Taiwan issue, but with India, the Chinese PLA had skirmishes and even lives of soldiers were lost.

​Observers even say that the Indian government’s strategy to respond to every statement of China strongly is well-thought out. India does not use Tibet issue as a diplomatic tool anymore, or does not engage with Taiwan in public view to upset China. India only counters China, responds with strong statements and actions such as building infrastructure in border areas, deploying largest ever forces on LAC, and not being complacent, which also gives out a strong message to China that India will fight for its own territory no matter what.

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