When the expression of Asian solidarity is the order of the day, inview of the shifting of the battlefront from that of Europe to Asia,the need for India forging ever closer relations with China is theneed of the hour. Hence in this backdrop, the observation of Primakov,the visiting foreign minister of Russia, during Vajpayee regime,assumes all the more significance when India is negotiating with thetreacherous terrain in its backyard, but the moot question is: will PMModi and the mandarins, sitting in the South Block, have the broaderforesightedness to effectuate the tectonic shift in India’s foreign policy?
Vivekanand Jha, Ranchi. Primakov, the then Foreign Minister of Russia, during Vajpayeer egime, had visited India. He, during his Press Conference, had
suggested a revolutionary idea which, as expected, was instantly shot
down by Ataljee. Primakov had said, ‘ Why not there be an alliance
between Russia, China And India to take on the USA and its Western
allies, symbolising NATO. Ataljee was quick to dismiss the above
suggestion when he instantly rejected it, saying, ‘ We don’t believe
in any alliance against any country’. Ataljee, foresighted as he was,
had, ostensibly rejected Primakov’s suggestion in the press
conference, yet had clandestinely started building fences with China.
Shri Sudheendra Kulkarnijee, Prime Minister’s adviser then, had
confided in this writer that how Ataljee, realising the gravity of
Indo-China friction on the lack of clarity on the border demarcation,
had constituted a team, including Chinese experts, to delineate the
borderline for mutual settlement. Whereas the Chinese delegation
had sought six years for the resolution of the border dispute;
Ataljee, who appeared to be in a hurry, had asked them to resolve the
issue in just four years. Sudheendrajee was present when Ataljee
gave an ultimatum to the members of Chinese side to resolve the issue
once and for all. Alas, Ataljee’s tenure would have extended beyond
2004, the border conundrum which continues to be the biggest
bottleneck and imponderables, could have been amicably resolved.
Ataljee was gifted with the Bismarckian vision, which became explicit
to one and all when he had famously said about Pakistan : ‘ We can
change history but not geography. We have no choice as to who we want
to have our neighbours’. In sync with his Bismarckian vision and
foresightedness, Bhisma of Indian politics, had repeatedly extended
his olive branch to his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, the then
Pakistani Prime Minister. The Agra Summit, which A. S. Dulat, the man
who was working with PMO, during Vajpayee era, says in his book, how
Pakistan’s investing much more on Vajpayee, while giving a short
shrift to Advani, resulted in the fiasco. Dulat is of the opinion that
It was Advani’s anathema that caused the fiasco in Agra Summit.
Remarkably, even the Kargil war, the consequence of the notorious
Pakistani army , hand in glove with rogue ISI, had plotted Kargil war,
stabbing Nawaz Sharif at his back. Yet, Vajpayee would not let go of
his Bismarckian vision to bring about a rapprochement between India
and Pakistan on one hand, and with China on the other. Unfortunately,
Vajpayee failed in his endeavour to end the conflict in the South
Asian continent, yet he was an eternal believer in the ententee
between India -Pakistan on one hand, and Indo-China on the other.
But, with the departure of Vajpayee from the political arena, and
arrival of Manmohan Singh and then Modi, left much to be desired:
India became far more closer to the USA, hedging its risk of Chinese
aggression, with its evolving bonhomie with the USA. Ironically,
India, in such foreign policy moves, gave two hoots to the common
sense that, however closer bonding with USA, will not leverage India a
political and a diplomatic heft against its Asian rival. Importantly,
Modi, going all out to court Trump, putting all his diplomatic eggs in
the US basket, became all the more apparent in the Howdy-Modi event,
which was full of pomp and grandeur sans securing India’s strategic
interest. It was not that Modi did not try to build a rapport with his
Chinese counterpart, but the lack of sincerity of tone and purpose was
inordinately evident in those occasions when Modi hosted Xi Jinping in
India.
Moreover, India and China had a relationship based on mutual mistrust
of each other. All this started with the bonhomie of Hindi-Chini
Bhai-Bhai, which distastefully resulted in a War in 1962. Jawaharlal’s
statesmanship of crafting his Panchsheel, fell apart, with China
trampling upon the same, had historically betrayed India. But even
this version has a chink, for the so-called Policy of ‘Forward
Movement’ which culminated in a frenzy when Indian Parliament,
succumbing to the public pressure, had unconscionably sought to annex
Aksai Chin from the possession of China, the part of territory which
Pakistan had gifted it to China. The crushing defeat of India, in the
hands of China, ever since 1962, became the bone of contention between
the two countries. ‘Once bitten twice shy’, as the adage goes, has
held Indo-China relations hostage to the past event. Worse still, the
latest CoronaVirus outbreak, which emanated from Wuhan city of China,
is being proclaimed as the Chinese’ notoriety towards the entire
world, which apparently has alienated China from the international
community.
Otto Von Bismarck was the Prime Minister of Germany in the 19th
century who, by dint of his foresightedness and vision, had brought a
thaw in wars fought in Europe. Evidently, even though Europe, being
the hotbed of conflict, Bismarck, through his sagacity, had engendered
an elusive peace in the entire Europe for a decade. Significantly,
Asia today is passing through a tremendous turbulence, in the wake of
the rise of China as an alternative, triggering a spectacular unrest
across Asia. No wonder amid such turmoil, it is the conspicuous
absence of such a statesman like Otto Von Bismarck which becomes all
the more starker. Moreover, it is the time for the famous observation
of Primakov to be given a tangible shape not as an alliance against
the USAE, but as a rise of Asian solidarity. India, in all
earnestness, should join OBOR, even belatedly, which China will
welcome enthusiastically, on its own terms. Also, India should
acknowledge China’s rise as an Asian and World power and extract its
own pound of flesh. It is the time India should give up its ego and
acknowledge Chinese rise on the ground of Asian solidarity, and seek
the resolution of its border dispute, which China will happily do, for
China too intends India to be on its side. This, if done, will be a
tectonic shift in India’s foreign policy, yet it will prove to be a
Bismarckian vision to avoid any confrontation, far less any sort of
war to break out in the South Asian Sub-Continent.
Vivekanand Jha is the National Spokesperson of Rashtriya Lokneeti
Party. He is also the member of its National Core Committee. He is an
author, academician and a Public Intellectual. He is also the Convener
of the Education Pe Charcha
