New Delhi, Mar 15 (UNI) In a season when China foiled global efforts to get Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar listed as a global terrorist, a new book says discourse in India about China generally happens to be ‘lopsided or induced’ by the happenings in other countries.
“....We do not understand what is happening within China. India does not have enough China experts in the country who actually understand what is happening within China,” says the book ‘India’s Foreign Policy – Towards Resurgence’.
Harsh V Pant, an academician of strategic affairs associated with Observer Research Foundation (ORF), in his contributory article in the book says – “India has a problem in understanding the Chinese system, given the authoritarian nature of China and the lack of transparency in the system”.
He further says – “In the long term, the India-China relationship is going to be a very difficult one to manage and therefore we need the best minds to come together and articulate a policy on how this could be done in the best possible manner”.
The compendium edited by Major General Dhruv Katoch also has articles from the likes of former Union Minister M J Akbar and other experts and renowned personalities like Suresh Prabhu, Gen (Retd) V K Singh, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe and Ram Madhav.
In her piece ‘India’s Foreign Policy – An Overview’ External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj says in terms of international economic outreach, in the recent years, “there has been an unprecedented outreach of India’s diplomatic canvas at the highest level”.
Dwelling on various issues, she further writes: “....there has been significant progress in terms of infrastructure connectivity projects undertaken by India in our neighbourhood”.
She mentions about Indian initiatives in Bangladesh and Myanmar and also projects like Chabahar port.
In his piece, journalist-turned-politician M J Akbar, also a former MoS External Affairs, says – “The confrontation over Doklam could have risen on a self-perpetuating axis to a point of no control. If Beijing was testing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resolve, or his leadership, or his ability to manage a crisis without tremor, or his leadership....then it must have got a clear read-out of all answers”.
“There is always a way forward through a dialogue,” he says and also maintains – “Our policy is mature, keep differences from becoming disputes, and prevent disputes from becoming conflicts”.
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