Malayappan wrote:Not strictly a "neutering the threat" issue but given the discussions in this thread, could be an interesting viewpoint.
Monu Nallapat assesses that a 'neocon' faction in PLA is influenced by pakistan.
Pak GHQ using PLA ‘neocons’ to damage India-China ties
His suggested "way out" may not work, but it is worth reflecting on how China could be outsourcing its India Policy to pakistan, unwittingly or otherwise...
Also some interesting data points on access to US military info for China..
The fact is that China doesn't need to be manipulated by GHQ, Rawalpindi about India. GHQ may be doing all that, no doubt, but China doesn't need any such trigger for its policy towards India.
Since the 50s, China has considered India as an arch enemy and has been condescending about us. It doesn't require an Einstein to tell us that its nuke, missile & diplomatic support to Pakistan, its opposition to India everywhere, its threatening & abusive language against us, its frequent incursions et al are as a result of this. Fundamental to this is the ideology that there cannot be two swords in one scabbard. That again goes back to the Chinese imperialism.
China is left with few friends in the world today (it may have its way with many small countries but that is different) and even fewer in Asia. Its two lapdogs are North Korea & Pakistan, as we all know. There is no doubt that Indian Army recognizes that future wars are going to be 2-front or 3-front war (third front being internal Islamist threats). Frequently top echelons of Indian armed forces have talked of that eventuality and their preparation. The 'Road to Nowhere in Doka La Area', as Nalapat refers to it, is actually the building block for that eventuality, as also the huge presence of PLA in POK under the guise of building infrastructure projects. As we have always said here, Pakistan is already a province of China. The DAWN leak recently of the real Chinese objectives of CPEC clearly had Sinicization of Pakistan as one primary goal. Pakistan will be 'half-cooked' in Chinese narrative. The Chinese objective is to cause a break-up of India in the East and the North. The idea is that India would be so much debilitated that it would no longer pose a threat to Chinese hegemony. China is confident that it can handle the USA and Japan once India is taken care of.
China is like Pakistan in some ways. In Pakistan, everybody wants to defeat, destroy & conquer India; only the degree & methods may differ. Some people who think that Nawaz Sharif has been softer to India are mistaken. He has the same fundamental objective as any other Pakistani. Similarly, no Han Chinese would tolerate another power centre in Asia (for the time being, before such intolerance is escalated to the rest of the world). That pits China directly against India. That there is a rift between the PLA & CPC is well known. Ever since XI ascended the throne and assumed overall command of the CMC, there has been frequent exhortations to the PLA to obey the Party line. This doesn't happen if there was complete obedience. This presented starkly nakedly during Xi Jinping's visit to India three years back. Therefore, some 'neocon' Generals may be trying a more aggressive tone, but the overall trend among CPC, Politburo, the Politburo Standing Committee and the President is to be inimical to India. Therefore, the 'advice' that Nalapat gives to China, though sane, is not implementable.
China has got itself into a tragicomic situation at Doka La. Extricating itself from that without losing face is impossible. Neither militarily, nor diplomatically it can do so. Simultaneous withdrawal of troops and withdrawal of Chinese construction equipment along with an assurance to discuss the issue peacefully with both Bhutan & India are the only possibilities. China can request India to help it word the statement in such a way that it didn't lose much face. However, even a peaceful resolution of this stand-off would be termed as a setback to PLA.
The only option available for Xi is to blame elements in PLA that were disobeying CPC and purge some Generals from the Western Theatre Command (which subsumed the erstwhile Chengdu Military Region responsible for this area).
On Pakistan handing over American equipment to China, it is well documented. Starting from faulty tomahawk missiles that crashed in Afghanistan in 1998 to crashed Chinook during OBL attack, things have found their way to China.
