Ahmedabad, Sept 02: Former diplomat Sujan Chinoy on Sunday expressed concerns about China’s rise, noting that it remains a significant issue for India due to their unresolved boundary disputes and its hostility towards India’s growth.
Addressing a gathering after launching his book titled ‘Global Tumult: India as a Pole Star,’ Chinoy said India needs peace and stability on its periphery if it wants to become a major power.
“China’s rise is a matter of great concern for India on two counts — firstly, China is a direct neighbour of India with an unresolved boundary that runs into thousands of kilometres, but more so because it is often inimical to India’s rise,” Chinoy said.
The former Indian diplomat also flagged the “militarisation” of Chinese power due to its economic prowess, its spillover in South Asia, and its presence in the Indian Ocean.
“The larger dilemma today is how to manage relations with China,” said Chinoy, the Director General of Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.
China wants normalisation of ties four years after the Galwan Valley clash but the Indian position remains that the two countries cannot pretend to have “a very normal relationship” unless the neighbouring country disengages at the remaining friction point on the border and maintains and guarantees peace and stability.
“But, of course, all of you and people like me will have to continue to think about the level of economic engagement that should be permitted or could be permitted between the world’s second-largest economy, China, and a rising economy like India,” added Chinoy, who had served as the Indian ambassador to Japan and to the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
He suggested careful guarding of critical supply chains to avoid them getting compromised so that India doesn’t get dependent on a certain geography as happened with many economies, including the US, which finally woke up and undertook certain remedial measures.
“At the same time we may have to see and study what kind of impact a complete disengagement would have on our own goals and objectives of creating ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat,’ and particularly areas of SMEs and MSMEs, as some of their supply chains are, and continue to remain linked to China,” Chinoy added.
He said the new book includes a chapter on India’s rise linked to the Vedanta philosophy where India is likened to the Brahman the Godhead and Atman in terms of various countries around the world, and how the great synergy between the Atman and the Brahman unites everybody.
Certain Western scholars and strategic thinkers see India trying to place itself as a ‘pole star’ as something out of place, he said.
“It is something often seen as disruptive by the vested interest that has always had a privileged global structure, crafted and curated in their favour for the past eight decades. However, for India, it is a natural corollary of our great civilisational heritage and all that it stands for today, particularly at a time when the world is in a great deal of uncertainty,” Chinoy said.
India is emerging as one of the independent poles in this great era of uncertainty and flux, he said, explaining the title of his book.
Chinoy further expressed his disagreement with the classification of India as a middle power.
“It is hard to define middle powers as a large number of middle powers do not fall in the same category in terms of either GDP, military power, or population. It is also very difficult to define any country today as a great power.
“Based on GDP alone, India stands ahead of certain permanent members of the United Nations Security Council,” Chinoy added.
The former diplomat said the strategic autonomy exercised by India was not about detachment or disengagement.
“It is rather about more engagement but in a strategically independent manner where your sovereign choices are not decided in other categories. It leaves India the scope, elbow room, and latitude to also engage in multi-alignment or issue-based alignment with other powers,” he added.
