India-China border dispute: Why does PM Modi not directly name China?

Posted on 9th Oct 2020 by rohit kumar

Indian Foreign Minister Subramaniam Jaishankar said many good things at the quad countries meeting in Tokyo on October 6.

 

Jaishankar said that India is in favor of a 'rule-based world order, peaceful settlement of disputes for territorial integrity and sovereignty'. However, he did not condemn China's aggressive position in the Indo-China border dispute with the name of China directly.

 

On the other hand, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been attacking China directly by name.

 

The countries involved in the Quad were sitting in India, the United States, Japan, and Australia, Tokyo to find ways to reduce China's influence and reduce dependence on it. Informally, the Quad is being considered the 'Neto of Asia', an attempt against China's growing dominance.

 

The whole country is taking Chinese aggression against India in Galvan seriously. Despite this, experts believe that Jaishankar did not openly condemn China.

 

Defense expert Brahma Chelani expressed his surprise by tweeting it. He said that the Indian foreign minister did not even take the name of China, he did not even say that India is a victim of China's aggression. Of course, China was the target of his speech in gestures, but he did not directly name China.

 

On Tuesday, India got another opportunity to condemn China collectively when 39 countries in the United Nations signed a statement against China.

 

In it, these countries said, "We are seriously concerned about the human rights situation in Xinjiang and the recent developments in Hong Kong."

 

Silence even on domestic issues

 

Not openly condemning China or maintaining silence against it is an indication of the recent trend of the Modi government.

 

Experts are divided about the silence of the Prime Minister in domestic affairs.

 

Some say that they should have spoken on a serious matter like Hathras and some say that the Prime Minister doesn't need to state every issue of the country.

 

Perhaps the words of both sides are right in their place, but how far is it right to remain silent on Chinese aggression?

 

During the skirmish between Indian and Chinese forces in the Galvan Valley on 15-16 June, reports also came that China had illegally occupied parts of India.

 

After this, at the all-party meeting on June 19, the Prime Minister said, "Neither has anyone entered our border nor our post is under someone else's possession".

 

Most critics termed it as an equivalent statement of denial of any intrusion and expressed its disappointment over it. The Congress Party lashed out at the Prime Minister for this statement.

 

But the important thing is that since then till now the Modi government has not taken the name of China directly.

 

Now it has been reported in Indian newspapers that the Ministry's monthly report has been removed from the Ministry of Defense website from 2017.

 

According to the Indian Express report, "After China removed a monthly report talking of 'unilateral aggression' in Ladakh, the Ministry of Defense has removed all monthly reports from its website since 2017. These include Doklam in 2017. Reports related to the duration of the crisis are also included, which did not mention the deadlock between Indian and Chinese soldiers ".

 

The Ministry of Defense and the Foreign Ministry declined to comment on this.

 

India's helplessness or diplomacy?

 

What is the secret of India's silence against China?

 

Samir Patil, an international security expert at Gateway House, a Mumbai-based foreign policy think tank, is not surprised that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is silent about China and has left the responsibility of criticism to junior ministers.

 

He combines this with the nuances of diplomacy. He says, "PM Modi has put so much political capital on relations with China that tomorrow if India is forced to negotiate with China, then he will have room to prove his diplomatic skills."

 

Former Indian diplomat and author Rajiv Dogra says that diplomacy is not done by Dhindora Pete.

 

He says, "Diplomacy is better than silence. The India-China relationship is going through a delicate phase right now. It is right that the issue you are talking about has been criticized but if the tension while working silently If I get less and succeed in disengagement, I think patience was successful. "

 

According to China's professor of Asia, Professor Huang Yousong, the Chinese government also wants that the ongoing dialogue between the two countries to reduce tensions is successful.

 

He says, "If India does not come in the direction of the USA and other western countries, then both countries can work together, and not only Asia can emerge as two big economies of the world. China is close to this. India is also Can come close to the goal. "

 

At the same, senior journalist and editor of Hindustan Times newspaper on foreign policies Rizaul Hasan Laskar says, "The present focus of the Indian government is to ensure that the current tension with China on the Line of Actual Control does not escalate in any way, especially Since there has been no progress in the disengagement and de-escalation process. This could be one of the reasons why Indian leaders do not name China directly. "

 

Xi Jinping is not even taking the name of India

 

Sameer Patil wants to bring our attention to the Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has not directly made any statement against India so far.

 

He says, "We have seen many statements from the Chinese Foreign Ministry against India, in which they have accused India of violating the Line of Actual Control, but such statements have not come from the big leaders of China."

 

Patil says, "There is tension in the relationship between the two countries but the relationship is not broken or they both have not formally declared war."

 

So does this create the possibility of a formal or informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping?

 

Rezaul Hasan Laskar says that this year will probably not happen.

 

He says, "The probability of an informal summit this year seems slim. There have been 18 formal and informal meetings between the two leaders.

 

After the tension, the two leaders will meet during the first BRICS conference on November 17, but this will be a virtual meeting.

 

Apart from India, Brazil, Russia, China, and South Africa will be included in the 12th BRICS conference to be held in Russia.

 

According to Sameer Patil, the summit of the summit between the two leaders is still low because China has not given any positive signals so far.

 

He says, "Even after the Doklam crisis, the meeting between the two took place at the same time when both of them showed flexibility in their positions."

 

Now all eyes will be on the BRICS conference on November 17 when the Prime Minister of India and the President of China will be face to face at the video conferencing.