No Going Soft Now: India Must Stand Up to Beijing’s Threat

China has warned India against ‘taking revenge’ for the scuttled NSG bid. But India can’t simply ‘grin and bear it’.

China and India have been having issues pertaining to the NSG. (Photo: Reuters)

The Ministry of External Affairs, which handles matters relating to foreign journalists in India, has not issued any statement so far on the decision not to renew the visas of the three Chinese journalists belonging to Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency.

There is little doubt though that Wu Qiang (the Delhi bureau chief), Lu Tang (the Mumbai bureau head) and a third journalist, She Yonggang, have been informed that they will have to leave India by 31 July, when their visas expire.

(Photo Courtesy: Reuters)

Media reports indicate that this action has been taken because these journalists did not conform to prescribed norms. Obviously the intelligence services would have informed the government of their activities and that led to this correct decision.

There is also nothing unusual in intelligence services keeping an eye on the activities of foreign journalists, especially those belonging to inimical countries. All countries follow such practices.

• Indian establishment’s decision not to renew visas of three Chinese journalists is based on reports that they did not follow prescribed norms.
  
  

• It is correct on the part of the authorities as intelligence agencies would have kept the government informed of their activities.
  
  
• The decision comes soon after China’s undiluted opposition to India’s quest for NSG membership.
  
  Beijing’s message is that India must not allow the NSG issue to impact other areas of bilateral ties.
  
  
• While commercial and economic ties are continuing on an even keel, other issues are impacting India-China relationship.
  
  
• The China-Pakistan nexus will be the principal security challenge that India will continue to face in the foreseeable future.
  

Were the Journalists Warned?

Were they warned? What is not known is if the journalists had been warned against their activities. It would be useful if this point is clarified, for, while there is no requirement for warnings to be given, sometimes hints are dropped by Indian officials to concerned journalists.

However, in view of the nature of India-China relations it would not be surprising if “friendly advice” was deliberately not given.

The fact that this decision has been taken against not one but three journalists together and has come soon after China’s undiluted opposition to India’s quest for NSG membership, it is inevitable that it is being refracted through the prism of the present tensions in India-China relations.

This would be so even if the decision, as some reports indicate, may have been taken and communicated to the journalists earlier and their visas were being renewed for short periods to enable their replacements to reach India.

Beijing’s Threat

The Chinese reaction has been made indirectly but clearly through a report in the officially controlled newspaper, the Global Times.

The report asserted, “If New Delhi is really taking revenge due to the NSG membership there will be serious consequences.”

The Chinese have expelled foreign journalists themselves and therefore their focus is not so much on defending the action of their journalists as on sending a message that India must not allow the NSG issue to impact on other areas of bilateral ties.

This is extremely significant for it is tantamount to demanding that India must just “grin and bear” continuing and seemingly hardening Chinese negativity on India’s NSG membership.

Indian officials will maintain, if they were to make public statements, and also in private conversations, that the journalists’ matter is unrelated to the main currents of the two countries’ bilateral ties. That is not how it will be perceived in either country or by the international community.

Other Contentions with China

Other commercial and economic ties are continuing, as yet, on an even keel, there is much that is happening that is impacting on the relationship apart from the NSG matter.

China’s actions stretching from putting a hold on the Jaish-e-Mohammad leader Masood Azhar being declared a terrorist by the United Nations, to its unhappiness with Indian positions on the South China Sea, to the recent not-so-oblique hints on the need for restraint during the situation that has developed in J&K following the killing of the terrorist Burhan Wani, indicate an assertiveness that cannot be ignored.

(Photo Courtesy: PTI)

Chinese Aggression

This is partly attributable to the Chinese aggressiveness consequent to its “rise”. It is being exhibited in many areas and on many issues. More pertinent to India’s interests are the fundamental changes taking place in Sino-Pak ties. Built on a shared negativity towards India, they are now developing an independent pillar through the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which is of both strategic and commercial significance. Contrary to the view of many sceptics who doubt if it will ever be completed, both governments are committed to its successful implementation. It will pose a great challenge to India.

The decision to cooperate with Iran and Afghanistan to develop Chabahar and link it with transport routes with Central Asia is only one of the ways to safeguard Indian interests.

Beating the China-Pakistan Nexus

The China-Pakistan nexus will be the principal security challenge that India will continue to face in the foreseeable future. All instruments of national power and diplomacy will have to be utilised to meet it.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (L) shakes hands with China’s President Xi Jinping. (Photo: Reuters)

Political consensus and social cohesion are naturally prime requirements as well. While India must retain at all times its autonomous foreign policy, it should not shy away from cooperating with countries that are concerned with Chinese conduct. These include both the great powers as well as countries in China and Pakistan’s neighbourhood.

What needs to be especially avoided is a perception that India can be pushed around, as was shown in the visa case of the Uighur leader Dolkun Isa. Having taken the decision that the three journalists must leave, even if it has not been officially announced, India can now only reverse that decision at the peril of reinforcing the view that it succumbs under pressure.

(The writer is a former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs. He can be reached at @VivekKatju. The views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same)