Use phones to defuse tensions

The challenge for Indians and Chinese is to take steps now to prevent  any further escalation in the standoffish situation in Ladakh region. This is imperative for the two nations having their unique civilization that has interacted with each other over the decades. The ancient silk route  has had  linkages that  are  recalled with nostalgia  and there are attempts to bring back the days of that era  into the current times with all the traditional  dots on the fast changing landscape impelled by  the recent  development era.

The people in Jammu and Kashmir  know it very well that military stand-offs never remain  confined to the military alone. These have very serious implications for the civilian population and their land and economies. Even a routine military exercise where the forces test their capabilities for war-time eventualities  spells out  huge problems for the masses.

   

China is a  big country with big responsibilities to the world. It has invested in almost all parts of the globe and in as far off as places in African countries. Its investment has lifted fortunes of many countries and kept their economy moving. Each country invests with its strategic objectives and economic profitability. Nowadays economics drives the domestic politics and raises the strategic prestige of the nation .

At this moment, when China has established itself in the world as the second most powerful nation and its economy is only next to America, the latter’s retracing of steps from the world affairs and some of the unilateral decisions has dented its image. China might be trying to fill these gaps, and for that the underlined mantra is soft, not the hard power.

If, for a moment, western view, especially in the US is  to be ignored as American bias against China, Beijing  has  not done the things  , as it should have, to establish its soft power in a manner in which it should have done. The incidents in Ladakh demonstrated that China is taking risks in the military field at the cost of its image of an economic powerhouse and one of the largest investors in the world. India, too, is having great economic ties with China. The economies of the two were going upward with the cooperation of each other. Now, there is a risk that the militaristic approach may harm China more than India.

After the brutal incident in Galwan valley in Ladakh on June 15 in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed, while the Chinese casualties remain unspecified, the landscape for the conflict amidst Himalayas has widened. There are profound fears to this effect. Those are more than visible with the two countries arraying their forces along the boundaries where they are in a stiff face-off situation. It doesn’t need the knowledge of rocket science to  say that Western media has started its own version of the events. They have chastised China as a regional bully as Beijing is having problems with Taiwan straits, besides  having  militarized the artificial islands in South China sea, and it doesn’t forget to mention that how Chinese  Naval Vessels drowned a Vietnamese boat and so on. A gleaning of the western press shows  some empathy toward India. But India should be cautious of all this. The western media because of its resources can interpret the things the way it likes. It generates its own versions, and writes effective English to make its point in an appealing fashion.

Both China and India are neighbours. They have a history of their own. The military confrontation should be the last thing on their mind. Even if India may not be having as many resources in the war machinery and economic capital to spare in the times of crisis, it will not be compromising its national prestige. No country does so for that matter even if the comparison offers unflattering statistics. Indians are known for supporting their army in all eventualities. It is a nation full of patriotic spirit and will try to defend its borders at any cost. Chinese may be having the similar sentiments towards People’s Liberation Army, but the way Communist Party operates and the manner in which it kept the number of its casualties secret  hasn’t done any good to it.

The most important thing at the moment is to prevent conflagration on the borders. It takes a phone call to do that, while the preparedness for war takes months and what follows thereafter is incalculable devastation. Since Ladakh has become a war theatre, the concerns of the people in Jammu and Kashmir are genuine. They know that any flare up will  spread even if there are no winds. This is the gravity of the situation, which both China and India must understand .

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