India Should Make Peace with China, Not Align With US

STORIES, ANALYSES, EXPERT VIEWS

India Should Make Peace with China, Not Align With US

Even after the recent withdrawal of American troops, Sudheendra Kulkarni (former close aide to ex-PM Vajpayee and Founder, Forum for a New South Asia) emphasises “there are no cooperative efforts by India and regional neighbours to help Afghanistan achieve stability and national reconstruction.

“This is mainly due to Taliban’s religious fanaticism on the one hand and India-Pakistan hostility on the other………Because of our ceaseless enmity, SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation), of which Afghanistan is also a member, has become completely dysfunctional and remains in coma. Its leaders have not had a summit meeting since 2014.

“In contrast, China has achieved some success in making the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) a viable non-Western platform in the region. The SCO managed to induct both India and Pakistan as full members in 2017. At its recent 20th anniversary summit in Dushanbe (Tajikistan), Iran joined it as a full member. Afghanistan has an observer status in the SCO.”

Sadly, writes Kulkarni “India has chosen to isolate itself from a regional cooperation endeavour involving China, Russia, Iran and Pakistan to promote peace and inclusive government in Kabul even though there is no basic difference among the five nations over the issue that the Taliban regime must not give sanctuaries to terrorist organisations.

“Instead, India is aligning its Afghan policy with that of America. More worrisome is America's reported attempt to seek a military base at some place in ‘north-west India’ for carrying out ‘over-the-horizon counter-terrorism operations’ in Afghanistan. Agreeing to this would be catastrophic for India and the region……….”

Unfortunately, ARGUES Kulkarni “we Indians, instead of sorting out our disputes with China on our own on the basis of equality and fairness, have chosen to join the US-led quadrilateral. Essentially an anti-China alliance, the Quad could end up making Asia the theatre of a new cold war and an expensive arms race……America has now created yet another anti-China grouping — AUKUS…….

“Be it Quad or AUKUS, what should worry Indians and all other Asians is how our seas and oceans will increasingly become a playfield for menacing warships and submarines.”


All Neighbours Article