India Should Learn from Past Experiences While Dealing with China: Arun Shourie

April 13, 2015

New Delhi: In the context of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s forthcoming visit to China in May, former Minister of Disinvestment and Communication and Information Technology in the Government of India, Shri Arun Shourie today cautioned India against its accommodative posture towards China. India should not, in the lure of out of box thinking, disregard the institutional thinking of experts on China, he insisted.

An eminent journalist, writer, author and statesman, Shri Shourie was speaking at a Roundtable discussion on “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Forthcoming Visit to China: Setting the Agenda” at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses on April 13, 2015.

Using the narrative of Indian diplomacy with China from 1950 onwards, Shri Shourie urged the government to learn from the mistakes that India made in dealing with China in the past. “China cannot be moved away from its objective of power and dominance due to some economic deal with India”, he noted. “China works in two ways, strategic reassurance and tactical turbulence’, added Shri Shourie.

Terming China as the most significant factor in international relations today, he said, that no country can afford to ignore China in its foreign policy. China has acquired a reputation much higher than its strength, he said, adding that India is not in a position to force its interests in the international arena and therefore it should look to initiate dialogue with other nations about the growth of China.

He further urged India to capitalise on the substantial backlash by the international community against Chinese economic and strategic behaviour since 2008.

Speaking about the border disputes with China, Shri Shourie said that though India should consider every step that can be taken at the line of control very deeply, it should not be in excessive hurry to settle the dispute. Instead India should work towards strengthening its comprehensive national power.

India should speed up its development in the North East, insisted Shri Shourie. “India cannot manage North East and Jammu & Kashmir through sub-contractors”, he insisted. On Tibet issue he said that India’s security is intertwined with Tibet.

The round table discussion included acclaimed Sinologists and experts from India to debate and yield a set of policy recommendations before the Prime Minister’s visit in May. The panellists were Mr Jayadeva Ranade, Prof Alka Acharya, Prof Srikanth Kondapalli, Prof Madhu Bhalla and Ambassador P Stobdan.