China has always played a spoiler, says ex-envoy

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 11

Delivering the 21st Prem Bhatia Memorial Lecture today, distinguished former diplomat G Parthasarathy today talked about the ‘Old Dangers, New Challenges for India’s Foreign and Security Policies’ and interestingly sought to focus on China rather than Pakistan.

During the course, P Vaidyanathan Iyer, National Affairs Editor, The Indian Express, was conferred the Prem Bhatia Memorial award for best political reporting in 2016. Iyer was part of the team which investigated the Panama Papers.

Reji Joseph, Staff Reporter, Rashtra Deepika, was conferred with the Prem Bhatia Award for excellence in environmental and development reporting.

Parthasarathy talked of various challenges being faced by India, particularly posed by China and Pakistan, as it sought to expand economically and politically. He cautioned that “India cannot ignore the fact that China has acted as a spoiler in every effort it has made to enhance its role in the eastern neighbourhood”. He elaborated on Beijing’s opposition to India’s participation in ASEAN and ASEAN Regional Forum and the East Asia Summit. 

In his lecture, he dwelled on the rise of China and how its support to Pakistan, is a crucial factor for India to understand. The Western powers, he pointed out, are now quite tired of Pakistan but China is the cushion for it and that is another factor India has to consider as it manoeuvres its way into the international arena.

“India should be clear that China is determined that it should be the unchallenged and predominant power in Asia’, the former envoy stressed. He said China’s overall strategy to contain India lies in it’s strengthening Pakistan’s conventional, maritime and nuclear weapons capabilities, while acquiring access to naval facilities, across the Indian Ocean”.

The overall thrust of the lecture was highlighting how crucial India’s engagement with China is even as Beijing stays opposed to India’s rise and also how to better deal with a Pakistan.