Chinese View of India-The Game of Power Politics

Nobody knows how one looks. To see how you appear you need the help of a mirror. The reflection will show you your true image. Keeping this axiom in mind it is worth while to know as to how India's biggest competitor China eyes this nation. It must not be forgotten that the great Indian theorist Chanakya (340 BC) has written that to defeat the enemy one must know what he thinks and plans for you. Thus the Chinese view point of India must be on the palate of every Indian intellectual. There is no doubt that China thinks of India as a rival and competitor and there is a good chance that what the Chinese think about India is what they fondly wish for.

One aspect or approach is to dismiss the Chinese point of view as mere rhetoric, but as Chanakya has said never dismiss the enemy assessments out of hand. What do the Chinese think of India? Or what is their hope? The Chinese Institute of strategic studies has compiled an article on India. As per this study the Institute think tank feel that India is ripe for disintegration- something akin to the erstwhile Soviet Union. The Chinese government has dissociated themselves from this study, but people in India must know what the intellectuals in China think. It is also a pointer as to what the Chinese fondly dream off.

Firstly the Chinese feel that the Hindu religion itself will be part of this disintegration process. With a caste system that exists in no other religion and being perpetuated for the next generation by the Indian government itself a division in society is already created (with the blessings of the Indian political leadership).Secondly creation of linguistic states leading to a clear cut demarcation with so called sons of the soil theory, the concept of India is sadly eroded. Again India is surrounded by states inimical to it from all sides-Pakistan with its Islamic tilt, Bangladesh- predominantly Muslim, Nepal- dominated by Maoists with allegiance to China, Sri Lanka and China itself. Add to this the insurgency in 30% of Indian Territory in 6 states led by the Maoists the siege of the Indian nation is from within itself. What next? Chinese feel that India can only prosper once it's broken up into smaller states.

All this is pretty disturbing. But is it all propaganda? The Indian government has created and perpetuated the caste system with the Congress party leader Moilly even recommending a census based on caste. In addition the Maoist insurgency exists in vast tracts of India where the central governments writ does not run. The North East and Kashmir are in ferment due to the encouragement by India's neighbors. The Army has to be deployed for this low grade military activity. Can the Indian nation afford to withdraw the Army from these areas? India itself has not made matters better by having anachronisms like article 370 and reservations based on caste.

All these factors can disturb the best of intellectuals. Let The Indian leadership have some introspection to do. Will India have a leader of the caliber of Fredrick the Great or Bismarck? Time alone will give the answer.