Covid-19 has exposed Chinese design to capture the world through its sheer power of manufacturing and its control over the global supply chain. The world has realized that over-dependence on China will have a disastrous effect on the economies, and it is leading to empowering a totalitarian state that has no value system. The ruling CCP is threatening India, Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Japan and of course, Tibet is engulfed in a dragon basket. President Xi Jinping desire to make China a superpower has thrown the world into a strange paradox. China is on the verge of setting a cold war with the USA and the various countries have to decide the way they want to be a party to this ultimate divide. India is inching for closure to the USA in the last few decades and this is the reason why China has launched a military threat to mitigate this possibility.

On the military front, the three sectors where India and China have a recurrence of disputes are in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Ladakh. The Arunachal sector is largely dormant despite China’s claim to the entire State. The Sikkim sector is strategic as any Chinese road and infrastructure development in its proximity can threaten the narrow Siliguri Corridor which is the gateway from India to the seven States of North-East India. It is in the Ladakh sector that the geostrategic implications of the face-off and incursions assume significance. The Chinese have made an immense investment of $62 billion in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. Recent assertions by India on its right to Gilgit-Baltistan through which the CPEC passes on its way to the Karakoram Pass in the Shaksgam valley (illegally conceded by Pakistan to China) have obviously rocked the boat. Unlike Doklam, where the Chinese movement was restricted to the single track that they were trying to develop along a narrow valley, in Ladakh the LAC is open and rugged. There are various “disputed areas” and “areas of differing perceptions” from the DBO in the north to Fukche in the south. Its centrality to the entire LAC in Ladakh and proximity to the Spanggur Gap and Chushul make the south bank of the lake a secure flank for large-scale moves by the Chinese. Hence, it holds operational importance to both armies. The western Ladakh region of DBO provides a buffer against Chinese direct access to Shaksgam valley and the Siachen heights. India therefore must hold on to DBO.

The Modi government's decision to broadcast weather reports of Gilgit-Baltistan on Indian news channels and the preconditions set for Foreign Direct Investment in segments of the Indian economy has definitely upped the ante for the Chinese. India is a huge market for Chinese manufactured goods and India hardly exports to China. China would hate to lose the large lucrative Indian market when the USA is pushing for tariffs and barriers for Chinese imports. India must put the trade upfront in the negotiations with the Chinese government rather than the military and diplomatic options, Chinese are smart business people to understand the cost of losing the Indian market. Finally, Narendra Modi must reshape the cabinet; the ministers lack global experience and political authority to drive a large country ahead. Narendra Modi has proved himself a decisive mass leader by winning two successive Lok Sabha elections, his deputy has proved himself an articulate political strategist and taskmaster in home ministry but the rest? Either they are not given space to work or they are incompetent. PM is not getting the required support from the cabinet to govern India effectively and the country is suffering. Recent events namely the Delhi riots, Shaheenbagh drama, Tablighi Jamaat show, Covid-19 crisis, and Chinese adventure have shown that team Modi-Shah is overburdened with work and they need extra competent hands to handle the crisis driver country.

Editor-in-Chief Prashant Tewari: Connect at twitter / FB # prashanttewari11 email:prashant.tewari@opinionexpress.in

Covid-19 has exposed Chinese design to capture the world through its sheer power of manufacturing and its control over the global supply chain. The world has realized that over-dependence on China will have a disastrous effect on the economies, and it is leading to empowering a totalitarian state that has no value system. The ruling CCP is threatening India, Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Japan and of course, Tibet is engulfed in a dragon basket. President Xi Jinping desire to make China a superpower has thrown the world into a strange paradox. China is on the verge of setting a cold war with the USA and the various countries have to decide the way they want to be a party to this ultimate divide. India is inching for closure to the USA in the last few decades and this is the reason why China has launched a military threat to mitigate this possibility.

On the military front, the three sectors where India and China have a recurrence of disputes are in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Ladakh. The Arunachal sector is largely dormant despite China’s claim to the entire State. The Sikkim sector is strategic as any Chinese road and infrastructure development in its proximity can threaten the narrow Siliguri Corridor which is the gateway from India to the seven States of North-East India. It is in the Ladakh sector that the geostrategic implications of the face-off and incursions assume significance. The Chinese have made an immense investment of $62 billion in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. Recent assertions by India on its right to Gilgit-Baltistan through which the CPEC passes on its way to the Karakoram Pass in the Shaksgam valley (illegally conceded by Pakistan to China) have obviously rocked the boat. Unlike Doklam, where the Chinese movement was restricted to the single track that they were trying to develop along a narrow valley, in Ladakh the LAC is open and rugged. There are various “disputed areas” and “areas of differing perceptions” from the DBO in the north to Fukche in the south. Its centrality to the entire LAC in Ladakh and proximity to the Spanggur Gap and Chushul make the south bank of the lake a secure flank for large-scale moves by the Chinese. Hence, it holds operational importance to both armies. The western Ladakh region of DBO provides a buffer against Chinese direct access to Shaksgam valley and the Siachen heights. India therefore must hold on to DBO.

The Modi government's decision to broadcast weather reports of Gilgit-Baltistan on Indian news channels and the preconditions set for Foreign Direct Investment in segments of the Indian economy has definitely upped the ante for the Chinese. India is a huge market for Chinese manufactured goods and India hardly exports to China. China would hate to lose the large lucrative Indian market when the USA is pushing for tariffs and barriers for Chinese imports. India must put the trade upfront in the negotiations with the Chinese government rather than the military and diplomatic options, Chinese are smart business people to understand the cost of losing the Indian market. Finally, Narendra Modi must reshape the cabinet; the ministers lack global experience and political authority to drive a large country ahead. Narendra Modi has proved himself a decisive mass leader by winning two successive Lok Sabha elections, his deputy has proved himself an articulate political strategist and taskmaster in home ministry but the rest? Either they are not given space to work or they are incompetent. PM is not getting the required support from the cabinet to govern India effectively and the country is suffering. Recent events namely the Delhi riots, Shaheenbagh drama, Tablighi Jamaat show, Covid-19 crisis, and Chinese adventure have shown that team Modi-Shah is overburdened with work and they need extra competent hands to handle the crisis driver country.

Editor-in-Chief Prashant Tewari: Connect at twitter / FB # prashanttewari11 email:prashant.tewari@opinionexpress.in