While analysts elate over the victory in the wake of a recent skirmish that took place between India and China and that placed the decades-old conflict once again in the limelight, they cease to realise that Prime Minister Modi might have laid a trap for the emergence of India as a new global power.
Both India and China are similar in multiple contexts.
They comprise almost one-third of world’s population and are competing for global respect. They have invested extensively in human development, developed emerging market and are globally branding their nations in terms of economy and technological advancement. Moreover, it cannot be denied that trade between the two regional adversaries ironically reach $84 billion and both have a monopoly over commodity markets ranging from canola oil to lentils. Nevertheless, both countries face challenges of a similar nature, particularly in the UN with respect to their abysmal human rights record. However, what was going on in Modi’s mind when he decided to take China on was an attempt to set the stage for India’s dominance in the region. His prospects of success are possible, as the world’s fastest growing economies such as Vietnam and Cambodia are in the quest for a reliable defence partner against China.
As the relationship between Modi and Israel’s Netanyahu blossoms, followed by their cooperation in military and economic, the ploy is all set. It is now the time to keenly observe China’s response which is long-term and channelled through its allies.
Hadia Mukhtar
Karachi
Published in The Express Tribune, July 8th, 2020.
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