THE TRIBUNE

APLN member Shyam Saran analysed the unusual remarks made by India’s Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane, which openly solicit US support to assist India in coping with the continuing military standoff with China on the border.

The US is vulnerable as it is involved in two wars, one in Europe and the other in West Asia. While it is engaged in a rivalry with China in the Indo-Pacific, there is as yet no ‘hot war’ there and the US would prefer to keep a lid on that possibility. For this to work, there must be a lessening of tensions with China. China faces its own economic headwinds and is willing to respond positively to US moves towards a limited détente. Public expressions of an anti-China front with India would run counter to this. The postponement of the New Delhi Quad summit, which would have brought President Biden to India, points in the same direction — of not alienating China at this critical juncture.

We should have read the runes correctly and avoided displaying our vulnerability to shifts in US geopolitical postures. This may also send a wrong message to China.

The full article can be accessed on the Tribune website here.

Image: iStock/suman bhaumik