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Mar 21, 2018 03:57 PM IST
Experts say two-front war with China, Pakistan is India's biggest security concern
The panel of experts agreed that India needs to positively engage China to prevent getting encircled by both its neighbours.
A two-front war with Pakistan and China is India’s biggest security concern at the moment, a panel of former high-ranking military officers and foreign policy experts concurred at the recently-concluded News18 Rising India Summit.
A panel comprising of Brigadier (retd) V Mahalingam, Observer Research Foundation fellow Manoj Joshi, and Vice Admiral (retd) Satish Soni agreed that India needs to positively engage China to prevent getting encircled by both its neighbours.
“As of today, there is no space left for talks with the Pakistan government. There, it is the military that is ruling and it is not willing to give even an inch in either Kashmir or Afghanistan,” said Mahalingam. India’s focus should be to bring the situation in the Kashmir Valley under control, he added.
The army must prepare for a two-front war with both China and Pakistan, the former brigadier said, but India and China are working on resolving their differences and learning to live with each other. The resolution of the Doklam standoff was a case in point, he said, adding that it was a positive sign.
Mahalingam’s concerns of a two-front war were mirrored by Joshi, who called the notion a dangerous one. “When was the last time a country won a two-front war? Unfortunately, for us we have not been able to use our diplomacy to break the Pakistan-China nexus and that is our challenge,” he said.
Joshi, however, dismissed fears of another standoff like the one at Doklam developing over the summer. India does not have a stake there, he said, pointing out that it was issue that concerned Bhutan and China and that India was only involved because of its ties with Bhutan.
Another point of concern for India in recent times has been China’s growing dominance in the Indian Ocean, but Soni said he believed it was one aspect in which China was actually trailing India. Although China is ahead of India in many aspects, Soni iterated that most of China’s sea trade passes through the Strait of Malacca, which makes it vulnerable.
"In the Indian Ocean, the game is very long and it is being played very slowly. India has a geographical advantage and it should exploit it," Soni said.
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/i...-indias-biggest-security-concern-2532759.html
Experts say two-front war with China, Pakistan is India's biggest security concern
The panel of experts agreed that India needs to positively engage China to prevent getting encircled by both its neighbours.
A two-front war with Pakistan and China is India’s biggest security concern at the moment, a panel of former high-ranking military officers and foreign policy experts concurred at the recently-concluded News18 Rising India Summit.
A panel comprising of Brigadier (retd) V Mahalingam, Observer Research Foundation fellow Manoj Joshi, and Vice Admiral (retd) Satish Soni agreed that India needs to positively engage China to prevent getting encircled by both its neighbours.
“As of today, there is no space left for talks with the Pakistan government. There, it is the military that is ruling and it is not willing to give even an inch in either Kashmir or Afghanistan,” said Mahalingam. India’s focus should be to bring the situation in the Kashmir Valley under control, he added.
The army must prepare for a two-front war with both China and Pakistan, the former brigadier said, but India and China are working on resolving their differences and learning to live with each other. The resolution of the Doklam standoff was a case in point, he said, adding that it was a positive sign.
Mahalingam’s concerns of a two-front war were mirrored by Joshi, who called the notion a dangerous one. “When was the last time a country won a two-front war? Unfortunately, for us we have not been able to use our diplomacy to break the Pakistan-China nexus and that is our challenge,” he said.
Joshi, however, dismissed fears of another standoff like the one at Doklam developing over the summer. India does not have a stake there, he said, pointing out that it was issue that concerned Bhutan and China and that India was only involved because of its ties with Bhutan.
Another point of concern for India in recent times has been China’s growing dominance in the Indian Ocean, but Soni said he believed it was one aspect in which China was actually trailing India. Although China is ahead of India in many aspects, Soni iterated that most of China’s sea trade passes through the Strait of Malacca, which makes it vulnerable.
"In the Indian Ocean, the game is very long and it is being played very slowly. India has a geographical advantage and it should exploit it," Soni said.
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/i...-indias-biggest-security-concern-2532759.html
