MyVoice: Views of our readers 6th july 2020

Modi's moves are plain risky

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now staring at a scary strategic predicament. Having already seized several tactically important positions, China is not going to just pack up and go home. Yet India's military options to compel a Chinese retreat are poor, forcing Modi to weigh the dangers of escalation against the certainty of strategic humiliation if India does nothing to restore the status quo.

Options between full-scale war and capitulation — such as limited attacks to expel Chinese forces or indirect military, diplomatic, and economic efforts to coerce withdrawal — carry their own substantial risks, including the very real possibility that they will not work.

These already-difficult calculations take place in the context of a Covid-19 outbreak in India that is slowly churning through some of the country's largest cities while devastating its economy. Modi's position is unenviable as he considers his responses. His options range from bad, to worse, to truly ugly.

Naveen Gollapudi, Tanuku, AP

Taking on China economically is effective strategy

It is undoubtedly crucial for the government to hold its ground when faced with Chinese expansionism. It doesn't help that both India and China have nuclear capabilities, which makes it imperative to counter any risk of escalation.

While the choice to use a technological measure may be well-intentioned towards reconciling the twin interests of signalling as well as preventing unnecessarily excessive escalation, it may not have the desired effect. Banning Chinese apps barely scratch the surface of the Chinese stake in the Indian economy.

There has been a huge influx of Chinese capital particularly in the tech and pharmaceutical sectors and this is if we discount the investments from China routed through third-party countries such as Singapore.

Several Chinese technology firms and venture capital players have acquired minority or controlling stakes in Indian companies. One of the reasons for China's recent aggressive stance is to divert the attention of its people from the slowdown of its own economy. Therefore, hitting it economically can be an effective strategy. However, we have to evaluate its pros and cons.

India's exports to China stood at $17 billion and our imports from China at $68 billion in 2019. Thus, in aggregate terms, containing bilateral trade will, naturally, adversely affect China much more. However, China's share in our exports was 5.2 per cent while India's share in their exports was 2.72 per cent, thus retaliatory action will have some bearing on our exports as well.

The loss in exports can be nullified by working out strategic trade partnerships with countries harbouring anti-China sentiments - like the US, parts of Europe, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan and Australia, among others.

Another approach could be to facilitate imports of raw materials and intermediate goods from China while encouraging value-added exports from India, and discouraging our raw material exports, which help Chinese manufacturers become more competitive.

PRVR Sarma, Visakhapatnam

China should be taught a lesson

While the world was battling this virus and this was the time when we needed to cooperate to fight this global calamity, China chose to embark on a misadventure in the Galwan valley which was more than ably thwarted by our valiant soldiers.

In his broadcast in "Man Ki Baat", the Prime Minister said "those who cast an evil eye on Indian soil in Ladakh have got a befitting response. India honours the spirit of friendship. She is also capable of giving an appropriate response to any adversary without shying away."

"Our brave soldiers have proven that they will not let anyone cast an evil eye on the glory of Mother India," said the Prime Minister. And what happened is because earlier the Congress governments never bothered about infrastructural development at the border and had meekly turned a blind eye to the nefarious nibbling away of our territories through continuous border violations and transgressions by China.

Dr K V Srilatha, Hyderabad