Why are we delaying 100% commitment to Quad. This is not a good signWe are not sure about our sentiments after reading this statement yesterday. US deputy secretary of state Stephen E. Biegun said on this Monday that both India and the US have been “too cautious” in developing strategic linkages within and outside the ‘Quad’ by always trying to anticipate China’s response.One has to think more on the phrase ‘Too Cautious’ going forward and the reasons behind that cautious approach. Are we really afraid of China and the consequences of forming a Quad ? Will such a formal arrangement antagonize chinese more ? but they are already showing their fangs everywhere so will such a Quad formation will deter them or make them more aggressive? These are some of the questions that the policy makers have to think about. However in our opinion Indians have been far more cautious in their approach towards China. While India has done well to build infrastructure around the borders it has to open up further in her global and regional strategic discussions. The wounds and fault lines are now fully exposed. China was more forthright in their hostility towards India. Check this interview and the response from Chinese spokesperson Zhao Lijian held recently. ” Bloomberg: My question is about India. We have a report saying that India has opened a series of new bridges, many of them providing all-weather access to its disputed border with China, 8 in Ladakh province, 8 in Arunachal Pradesh and 4 in the Himalayan region. So what’s the foreign ministry’s view?Zhao Lijian: First, China doesn’t recognize the so-called “Ladakh Union Territory” illegally set up by India or the “Arunachal Pradesh”, and opposes infrastructure building aimed at military contention in disputed border areas. Based on the consensus reached by the two sides recently, neither side should take any action that might complicate the situation at the border region, so that bilateral efforts to ease tension will not be undermined.For a while, the Indian side has been stepping up infrastructure building and military deployment along the border with China. This is the root cause of tensions. We urge the Indian side to earnestly implement the consensus reached by the two sides, refrain from taking actions that will complicate the situation, and take concrete measures to safeguard peace and tranquility along the border.”When there are no demarcated borders and when the Chinese have already occupied our land such words coming from the official spokesman should be taken more seriously. The Chinese are not going to budge from these positions and they are worried about their assets and investments in Tibet, Pakistan, OBOR and others. We cannot simply brush these issues aside especially when we have such an ambitious neighbour sitting next to us and thinking day in day out on how to be global power number 1 and sees India as a potent hurdle in her scheme of things. We think that India needs to overhaul her strategic thinking 360 degrees. We are still in some other frame of mind that is not truly in sync with fast changing global affairs. We don’t see active deliberations on strategic issues. We don’t see participation of think tanks and experts in framing and fine tuning such critical issues. We wonder what stops NIti aayog in conducting fortnightly or monthly meetings where only think tanks are called and strategic issues are discussed. We have to be very very proactive to secure our lands and borders and we continue to be highly complacent as always. I always recall and remember the historical stories of Prithviraj Chauhan, Maharana Pratap who all were really brave but still failed to protect the country from invaders. We have to learn from history. We think that it’s time for India to be more proactive across the region 360 degrees. The people in the external affairs ministry have to come out of the ‘All is WELL’ kind of thinking and worry about ‘What IF’ kind of situations. There is a huge difference between the two and we are sure it will help the country to go on 4 cylinders. Finally we think that Everyone knows that we are always hesitant in our approach and to make Quad a victim of such an attitude will be really harmful. We should not need a nudge from the US to formalise Quad. It is us who should be pushing for the Quad and not the other way round. The United States will choose her next President in less than a month and that should really worry us as US presidents are known to overthrow the commitments of previous governments. And if you are still compliant than one needs to read this news from 1992 (https://www.latimes.com/…/la-xpm-1992-05-14-mn-3004…
