{"id":2751,"date":"2021-07-27T13:44:03","date_gmt":"2021-07-27T07:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/?p=2751"},"modified":"2021-07-27T13:44:03","modified_gmt":"2021-07-27T07:59:03","slug":"when-india-needs-a-bismarck-now-vivekanand-jha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/when-india-needs-a-bismarck-now-vivekanand-jha.html","title":{"rendered":"When India needs a Bismarck now : Vivekanand Jha"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the expression of Asian solidarity is the order of the day, in<\/span><\/strong>view of the shifting of the battlefront from that of Europe to Asia,<\/strong>the need for India forging ever closer relations with China is the<\/strong>need of the hour. Hence in this backdrop, the observation of Primakov,<\/strong>the visiting foreign minister of Russia, during Vajpayee regime,<\/strong>assumes all the more significance when India is negotiating with the<\/strong>treacherous terrain in its backyard, but the moot question is: will PM<\/strong>Modi and the mandarins, sitting in the South Block, have the broader<\/strong>foresightedness to effectuate the tectonic shift in India’s foreign<\/strong> policy?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Vivekanand Jha, Ranchi<\/strong>. Primakov, the then Foreign Minister of Russia, during Vajpayee<\/span>r egime, had visited India. He, during his Press Conference, had<\/span><\/p>\n

suggested a revolutionary idea which, as expected, was instantly shot
\ndown by Ataljee. Primakov had said, ‘ Why not there be an alliance
\nbetween Russia, China And India to take on the USA and its Western
\nallies, symbolising NATO. Ataljee was quick to dismiss the above
\nsuggestion when he instantly rejected it, saying, ‘ We don’t believe
\nin any alliance against any country’. Ataljee, foresighted as he was,
\nhad, ostensibly rejected Primakov’s suggestion in the press
\nconference, yet had clandestinely started building fences with China.
\nShri Sudheendra Kulkarnijee, Prime Minister’s adviser then, had
\nconfided in this writer that how Ataljee, realising the gravity of
\nIndo-China friction on the lack of clarity on the border demarcation,
\nhad constituted a team, including Chinese experts, to delineate the
\nborderline for mutual settlement. Whereas the Chinese delegation
\nhad sought six years for the resolution of the border dispute;
\nAtaljee, who appeared to be in a hurry, had asked them to resolve the
\nissue in just four years. Sudheendrajee was present when Ataljee
\ngave an ultimatum to the members of Chinese side to resolve the issue
\nonce and for all. Alas, Ataljee’s tenure would have extended beyond
\n2004, the border conundrum which continues to be the biggest
\nbottleneck and imponderables, could have been amicably resolved.<\/p>\n

Ataljee was gifted with the Bismarckian vision, which became explicit
\nto one and all when he had famously said about Pakistan : ‘ We can
\nchange history but not geography. We have no choice as to who we want
\nto have our neighbours’. In sync with his Bismarckian vision and
\nforesightedness, Bhisma of Indian politics, had repeatedly extended
\nhis olive branch to his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, the then
\nPakistani Prime Minister. The Agra Summit, which A. S. Dulat, the man
\nwho was working with PMO, during Vajpayee era, says in his book, how
\nPakistan’s investing much more on Vajpayee, while giving a short
\nshrift to Advani, resulted in the fiasco. Dulat is of the opinion that
\nIt was Advani’s anathema that caused the fiasco in Agra Summit.
\nRemarkably, even the Kargil war, the consequence of the notorious
\nPakistani army , hand in glove with rogue ISI, had plotted Kargil war,
\nstabbing Nawaz Sharif at his back. Yet, Vajpayee would not let go of
\nhis Bismarckian vision to bring about a rapprochement between India
\nand Pakistan on one hand, and with China on the other. Unfortunately,
\nVajpayee failed in his endeavour to end the conflict in the South
\nAsian continent, yet he was an eternal believer in the ententee
\nbetween India -Pakistan on one hand, and Indo-China on the other.<\/p>\n

But, with the departure of Vajpayee from the political arena, and
\narrival of Manmohan Singh and then Modi, left much to be desired:
\nIndia became far more closer to the USA, hedging its risk of Chinese
\naggression, with its evolving bonhomie with the USA. Ironically,
\nIndia, in such foreign policy moves, gave two hoots to the common
\nsense that, however closer bonding with USA, will not leverage India a
\npolitical and a diplomatic heft against its Asian rival. Importantly,
\nModi, going all out to court Trump, putting all his diplomatic eggs in
\nthe US basket, became all the more apparent in the Howdy-Modi event,
\nwhich was full of pomp and grandeur sans securing India’s strategic
\ninterest. It was not that Modi did not try to build a rapport with his
\nChinese counterpart, but the lack of sincerity of tone and purpose was
\ninordinately evident in those occasions when Modi hosted Xi Jinping in
\nIndia.<\/p>\n

Moreover, India and China had a relationship based on mutual mistrust
\nof each other. All this started with the bonhomie of Hindi-Chini
\nBhai-Bhai, which distastefully resulted in a War in 1962. Jawaharlal’s
\nstatesmanship of crafting his Panchsheel, fell apart, with China
\ntrampling upon the same, had historically betrayed India. But even
\nthis version has a chink, for the so-called Policy of ‘Forward
\nMovement’ which culminated in a frenzy when Indian Parliament,
\nsuccumbing to the public pressure, had unconscionably sought to annex
\nAksai Chin from the possession of China, the part of territory which
\nPakistan had gifted it to China. The crushing defeat of India, in the
\nhands of China, ever since 1962, became the bone of contention between
\nthe two countries. ‘Once bitten twice shy’, as the adage goes, has
\nheld Indo-China relations hostage to the past event. Worse still, the
\nlatest CoronaVirus outbreak, which emanated from Wuhan city of China,
\nis being proclaimed as the Chinese’ notoriety towards the entire
\nworld, which apparently has alienated China from the international
\ncommunity.<\/p>\n

Otto Von Bismarck was the Prime Minister of Germany in the 19th
\ncentury who, by dint of his foresightedness and vision, had brought a
\nthaw in wars fought in Europe. Evidently, even though Europe, being
\nthe hotbed of conflict, Bismarck, through his sagacity, had engendered
\nan elusive peace in the entire Europe for a decade. Significantly,
\nAsia today is passing through a tremendous turbulence, in the wake of
\nthe rise of China as an alternative, triggering a spectacular unrest
\nacross Asia. No wonder amid such turmoil, it is the conspicuous
\nabsence of such a statesman like Otto Von Bismarck which becomes all
\nthe more starker. Moreover, it is the time for the famous observation
\nof Primakov to be given a tangible shape not as an alliance against
\nthe USAE, but as a rise of Asian solidarity. India, in all
\nearnestness, should join OBOR, even belatedly, which China will
\nwelcome enthusiastically, on its own terms. Also, India should
\nacknowledge China’s rise as an Asian and World power and extract its
\nown pound of flesh. It is the time India should give up its ego and
\nacknowledge Chinese rise on the ground of Asian solidarity, and seek
\nthe resolution of its border dispute, which China will happily do, for
\nChina too intends India to be on its side. This, if done, will be a
\ntectonic shift in India’s foreign policy, yet it will prove to be a
\nBismarckian vision to avoid any confrontation, far less any sort of
\nwar to break out in the South Asian Sub-Continent.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Vivekanand Jha, author of Delhi Beckons: RaGa for NaMo, 56 Inches and The Making of Narendra Modi, Unmaking of Jawaharlal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Vivekanand Jha is the National Spokesperson of Rashtriya Lokneeti
\nParty. He is also the member of its National Core Committee. He is an
\nauthor, academician and a Public Intellectual. He is also the Convener
\nof the Education Pe Charcha<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[14,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-education","category-top-stories-of-madhesh"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/himalini.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/modi-xi-wt-696x392-1.jpg?fit=696%2C392&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paS11m-In","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}