Abanti Bhattacharya

It is neither the Wuhan spirit nor India’s zero tolerance on terrorism but China’s own vulnerability to terror that caused Beijing to ultimately take on board New Delhi’s concerns on terrorism.

• Published: May 06, 2019
• IDSA Comments

India must jettison the attempt to maintain a balance between China and the US and instead take advantage of China’s internal and external vulnerabilities to gain an upper hand in the asymmetric power equation that has developed.

• Published: August 27, 2018
• IDSA Comments

The global thrust on economic integration has certainly accrued greater space to India that the non-alignment actually stands for. It allows India to reach out to both the US and China without fear of taking sides and draw in the benefits from both of manufacturing, investments, trade and commerce.

• Published: June 29, 2014
• IDSA Comments

The principal opposition of the Chinese on the McMahon line is that it is illegal and a mere product of British imperialistic designs on China. Such assessments completely disregard the fact that the McMahon line is entwined with the Tibet issue – the lynchpin of China’s territorial sovereignty and party legitimacy

• Published: June 05, 2014
• IDSA Comments

Soft border is neither an option nor a means to resolve the India-China border dispute. In Chinese conceptualization where borders are innately strategic frontiers, the idea of soft border is a misnomer. India should keep a distinction between the notions of soft border and boundary resolution.

• Published: March 03, 2014
• IDSA Comments

There have been many studies on US foreign policy towards China dwelling specifically on the efficacy of the US strategy of containment. Donald Gross’s book is an addition to this genre. It basically challenges the wisdom of the current US policy of containing China and offers a ‘new paradigm’ for ‘stable peace’ as an alternative approach for dealing with China and yet keeping US dominance in the Asia-Pacific intact. This new paradigm provides for greater cooperation, co-existence and accommodation with the rising dragon to ensure long-term peace in the international system.

• Published: September 2013
• Strategic Analysis

Integrating the restive Tibetan minority with China has been the primary domestic challenge for Beijing. Thus far, its Nepal policy has been crafted essentially to address the Tibetan question. The idea of trilateral cooperation between India, Nepal and China apparently floated by Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) in April 2013 was, in effect, first made by the former Chinese ambassador to Nepal, Yang Houlan, in 2012.

• Published: September 2013
• Strategic Analysis

The Chinese prime minister’s visit was in no way intended to offer solution to the vexed issue of border incursion. Li came to pursue China’s national interest and not to enrich India-China bilateral ties.

• Published: May 31, 2013
• IDSA Comments

On territorial and sovereignty related issues, China is likely to increasingly display unilateral tendencies. This is commensurate not only with China’s growing power but also with the relative decline of the United States.

• Published: July 31, 2012
• IDSA Comments

Sixty years for a human being may mean looking back, 1 taking stock of things and preparing to retire from active life. But for a nation it means more than just looking back to the path traversed. It involves looking to the future with confidence. Sixty years of India–China relations raises the significant question whether the two Asian giants could look to their bilateral relations with confidence.

• Published: September 2010
• Strategic Analysis