The realms of satellite imagery always take you behind in the time machine to understand what happened yesterday. While surfing on Google Earth, the author chanced upon some Chinese ships in Colombo. There were two ships: one was Type 905 auxiliary oil replenishment ship and the other was Type 53H3 frigate. The missing pennant number on stern of the frigate and retractable hangar on the stern of the oiler were convincing giveaways.
Standard portrayal of the North East has been that it is India’s periphery. Indeed, geography and to an extent socio-cultural realities have consigned it to the fringe of not only India’s nation-building enterprise, but also to the backwaters of the country’s collective consciousness. But the reality is that the region is not India’s periphery.
Increasingly, funding is coming from individuals in Middle East, many of whom are connected to North Korean cash supply chains through individuals linked to GHQ Rawalpindi.
Reticent corners of the universe seldom come to light, unobtrusively concealing themselves from gaze and assay. The uncharted neuronal caverns of the brain of Homo sapiens, heir to countless stealth space, are among such quarters. The human brain is, after all, the most sophisticated objet d’art that creation has shaped. Nature ascertains that the behavioural patterns fractionate along genetic boundaries. Nurture—especially if it suits the sapient architecture that nature has fashioned—encourages the innateness.
The North East of India—heir to a thousand mutinies—has—of late—been in the news for all the wrong reasons.
Doklam Plateau, an area of 89 sq. km, is in western Bhutan and is part of Bhutan’s 269 sq. km disputed area with China. Since mid-June this year, there have been a number of reports and debates on Indian Army’s ‘face off’ with China in the Doklam Plateau opposite Indian Army’s position at Doka La in East Sikkim. Media reports have been hyped and in some quarters, there is a fear of war clouds gathering in the region. War however is a rare and mostly the last option for nations who wish to preserve their strategic options.
China has been working towards enhancing connectivity with the Southeast Asian nations under the framework of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. This initiative, also known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) will give a new impetus to regional and global connectivity. China’s connectivity strategy seems to be closely aligned with its military modernisation to ensure maritime security along the key sea lanes of communication.
China’s Emergence as a New Arbitrator
India-China relations are complex and will be getting even more complex as time passes by. For a successful engagement, a nuanced and cool-headed handling of this relationship is needed. This is primarily because the nature of relationship between India and China will determine the future of Asian security and the architecture of the Indo-Pacific region.
