Economic muscle will allow India to face China | Economic Times

India’s biggest foreign policy challenge, as it enters the 75th year of independence, is without doubt China and the associated power asymmetry that needs to be addressed on a war footing. The challenge needs to be addressed through a policy framework that will ensure healthy economic growth and capacity building at a national scale.Whether it is tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) or China’s attempts to encircle India through inroads in the immediate or extended neighbourhood, through control of multilateral bodies or emerging as a key player in Eurasian and West Asian theatre, it is the power asymmetry that is shaping China’s approach.China has emerged as a tough negotiator in both bilateral settings and multilateral groups where India is also present. The tough border negotiations in eastern Ladakh, where both nations have amassed more than 50,000 troops each since May last year, is a very visible example of this. That these negotiations have been on for more than a year, despite the first bloody Indo-Chinese border clash in almost five decades and with China as the clear aggressor, without being near completion, exemplify China’s intention to contest at all levels.At nearly $14 trillion, China’s economy is nearly five times bigger than that of India. According to experts, India needs to grow at eight per cent per annum to emerge as a challenger to China. While India’s benign and non-expansionist approach has several admirers around the world, its additional financial muscle will make countries across continents less dependent on China and help them avoid a debt trap.India has also been slow in correcting historical mistakes when it comes to ignoring hard power and relying just on a soft approach and cultural linkages when it comes to the neighbourhood. China has emerged as one of the largest suppliers of weapons to most of India’s neighbours, from Pakistan to Bangladesh, Myanmar and even Sri Lanka. All this while India followed a policy of no lethal arms exports, a mistake that was corrected in 2014. India now has a vocal ambition to be a top arms supplier to the Indian Ocean Region and the rest of the world in the future.Referring to the power differential between the two, Gautam Bambawale, India’s former envoy to China, told ET,“The asymmetry between India and China today, whether in economic, technological or military terms, is a real threat to India. China has displayed that she will leverage such asymmetry to her advantage. India needs to put her head down and grow by 8% per annum over the next 25 years to reduce this asymmetry.”Taking advantage of this asymmetry, China is playing a form of diplomatic guerrilla warfare against India, according to China watchers.