“Let it be clear. India and China are strategic rivals”

Nice article and analysis from News Insight: “The Long March“.

I found the conclusion very well articulated:

“How do you deal with this military and economic hegemon across the Himalayas?

To sometimes understand powerful nations, one must try to understand them when they were weak. When China was weak, and the Russian and British imperiums were strong, it bided its time. If unequal treaties were drawn up and executed, it never gave its final consent, but ensured that its dissent was noted. Thus, in the mind, the Chinese ruling classes never colonized, although they may have lost physical possession of territories from time to time. It was this civilizational continuity, from kingdom to kingdom, through the Maoist takeover to later, that kept China integrated. Once it became powerful, it exerted itself through a mix of threat and persuasion. Taiwan alone remains outside its bounty. There are disputed border territories with India for which it is willing to play a long waiting game.

This being a very rough sketch of the Chinese power play, how does one deal with them? We have also to deal with them in the mind. We should rush to nothing. We should despair about nothing with them, including and particularly the unsettled border issue. Once you despair, the Chinese take advantage.

The Chinese always play for China. China has not gotten over the Middle Kingdom syndrome. Neither must we play for the short term. We should have our own long-term goals. We should pursue it with peace. Where China fits, we give and take. But nothing permanent.

Let it be clear for all time. India and China are strategic rivals. It is a clash of civilizations. Eventually, the Indian civilization, whose greatest produce is democracy, will triumph. But it is a long struggle. Let us prepare for it. “