By Maj Gen Ashok Kumar, VSM (Retd) 

The Chinese aggressive stance is going to stay for times to come  and so will be the  the status of China-Pak collusivity. Not only this,there will be substantial time needed for requisite capacity creation for India that too not only for the defence forces but also in multiple other domains where India has to  progress substantially. Indian capability needs to develop so much that it can prosper without logistics supply needed from China. Government has initiated multiple measures to address these concerns but  it will take considerable time to develop the requisite capability.

The main challenge till then lies in managing the relationship in a manner that as against losing our territory further, we continue consolidating the same. This task itself is fairly difficult given the  Chinese aggressive stance on the LAC  which has manifested in the form of transgressions in Eastern ladakh at multiple locations. It is reasonable to believe that the Government must be utilising its diplomatic, political and other tools to resolve the issue to its advantage. Since the entire effort being made by the Government is not fully in the public domain, it will be analysed as and when it comes in the public domain for learning lessons for the future.

Also Read: It remains “very fragile”: Jaishankar on situation along LAC in eastern Ladakh

There are two other areas which contribute to national security comprehensively. There is a definite and pressing need to address these two  issues comprehensively. The best part is that these two  issues, once addressed, can be a real game changer. The best part is- these don’t require any expenditure but statesmanship as well as national consciousness to make these two  things happen. These two  areas are covered as under:

National Security Truths. Given the nature of Line of Control (LOC) with Pakistan and Line of Actual control (LAC) with China and continued  belligerence by these two adversarial nations will continue. The  actions by these adversaries  not only affect the security matrix of the day but affect for longer duration.These need a national response which should not be only that of the Government but must include elected representatives in the form of principal opposition parties / other parties with pre-defined strength. The information gap between these stakeholders must cease utilising a robust mechanism. Such  a necessity has become more pronounced due to the current standoff on the LAC in the  Eastern Ladakh wherein the Government has stated  that Chinese have not entered our area while opposition has been countering such views with inputs from the satellite pictures. Whatever be the truth, the real beneficiary of such a stance remains the dragon. The following is recommended to be done to share the truth and bring entire polity on the same page:

Fixing Responsibility for Transgressions. It is obvious that such large transgressions across multiple points on the LAC haven’t happened overnight. These have taken considerable time and therefore, the border guarding troops must assume the responsibility of such a situation in addition to our internal as well as external  intelligence agencies. The responsibility needs to be fixed more for corrective actions and less for the prosecution as these things keep happening time and again which will be obvious whether we analyse the 1965 war or Kargil war.

Constituting National Security Dialogue Committee. A fresh committee needs to be constituted wherein Hon’ble RM could represent the Government of the day and each political party at the Centre having 10 or more Parliamentary seats be co -opted with a member each as part of this committee. The members from opposition political parties need not be leaders of these parties but nominated members having understanding of national security concerns. All these must function under Constitutional oath not to discuss the details in the public domain regarding their briefings done by the Government of the day. Whenever any such security issue comes up, the Government of the day must brief this committee with the truthful position so that there is no trust deficit between major political parties when it comes to national security concerns. There should not be any blame game on this issue as there is enough space for politics away from the national security concerns. The whole nation not only needs to stand together but also needs to be seen in the aforesaid manner.

Also Read: Eastern Ladakh row: India, China discuss proposals for disengagement in remaining friction points

Internal Population Fault Lines . There are various constituents of national security, external security and internal security playing important roles in their own way. A critical analysis of all wars fought by India, be it with China or Pakistan, will reveal that the people have played decisive roles in shaping the outcome of the conflicts. Same is equally true for the internal security dynamics as well. No external force can undertake proxy war if our people are with our national consciousness. In today’s democratic world and open thought process, it cannot be a ‘given’ assumption. We all need to work towards this to ensure that regional, religious, linguistic, social, caste, and other such faultlines don’t exist or at least reduced to a level where they don’t affect our national security. There may be some segment of the population which may be feeling aggrieved on certain counts with policies of the Government of the day but a serious dialogue is needed to bring everyone ‘on board’ for the national cause. This responsibility is not only of the Government of the day but that of all the citizens of the country. We all win only when the nation wins and it is therefore critical that we communicate and discuss the issues with all the stakeholders with an open mind. Once we adopt this approach, the majority of our internal issues will get addressed. Resources committed on such tasks can then be either utilised for external security or for nation building in the developmental works. These efforts will keep the population fully committed for the national cause.

Despite having gained a pre-eminence position in the world and having become the fifth largest economy, there are serious security challenges on the borders as well as within the nation. It’s the ‘people’ who are key to address these issues and any amount of dialogue is worth it to understand their perspective and be bold enough to take corrective measures where needed. We all win and prosper when the nation wins and prospers.

Author is a Kargil war veteran and defence analyst. He is a visiting fellow of CLAWS and specialises in neighbouring countries with special focus on China. He can be contacted at trinetra.foundationonline@gmail.com and tweets from @chanakyaoracle.

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