It has been heartening to realize India has taken the aggression of China seriously and is preparing for their national defense.

July 7, 2020

Amid the face-off with China (click here for video) at the Line of Actual Control, India took steps to boost its defence capabilities. The Defence Acquisition Council, headed by the defence minister Rajnath Singh, recently gave its approval for the purchase of at least 33 fighter aircraft, and an arsenal of missiles. From Sukhoi Su-30MKIs to MiG-29s, and Astra missiles, Indian security forces are set to get a fresh boost. The Indian Air Force is already waiting to take delivery of Rafale fighter jets from France. Meanwhile, disengagement seems to have begun at the LAC....

I congratulate India for such a rapid response to a threat from China. There is a lot going on in Kashmir now as well. India needs to measure any weakness it it's military, especially that of munitions. It would be best if India had a country that believes in it's democracy to supply munitions at times like this. The USA is not the only country that can supply those munitions. There are countries belonging to NATO which could and would protect India's democracy while it continues to build in strength in the region. 

Well done.

July 7, 2020
By Shishir Gupta

Male power (click here) and its brutal projection is the central theme of what is colloquially defined as chopsticks culture. Submission to the powerful with all its frills can still be observed in East and South East Asian societies, particularly the middle kingdom ruled now by Emperor Xi Jinping. It is very important to understand this culture to contextualize China’s aggression against India in Aksai Chin area, where according to former Indian PM Jawaharlal Nehru’s famous 1961 statement “not a blade of grass grows.”

For the average man in the world’s largest democracy, it may be difficult to fathom why Commander-in-Chief Xi would order his western theatre commander to march PLA in full strength up to Line of Actual Control and lose 30 years of bilateral ties in one surge of testosterone. After all, majority of the “China boys” in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)’s East Asia Division were enamoured with paramount leader Mao Zedong’s rather inane slogans and the art of reading tea leaves. The Indian Army still carried the legacy of 1962 on its shoulder till such time Colonel Santosh Babu of 16 Bihar shattered the myth in Galwan on June 15 evening. The Chinese penetration in Indian government particularly the telecom sector was and is humongous with its New Delhi Embassy routinely getting its side of the story out in the media. Why would a country ruin a $100 billion dollar economic relationship with a neighbour that has never interfered in its internal matters or even challenged its quest for global domination? Fact is, India has chosen to keep quiet despite knowing all machinations of Beijing in Nepal (where the Chinese Ambassador to Kathmandu is a de facto Viceroy), Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and in the happy kingdom of Bhutan....