Chinese President Xi Jinping must have been surprised when he heard the news that Government of India has issued orders that any Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from countries bordering India, including China, would be closely scrutinized and specific permission is required for such investment to take place. This order is obviously aimed at China, as India has realized that China wants to use the present opportunity of falling equity share value in companies to gradually taking over Indian companies and consolidate its hold over Indian trade and business.

India taken for granted

So far, China has been taking India for granted for all practical purposes and several provocative moves by China against India’s interests have been soft-pedalled by India. This approach of India in dealing with Beijing has given the impression that India is going out of the way to appease the Asian nation, as India wants to keep China in good humour.

In the past, Beijing has taken a number of steps, which have gone against India’s interests and the Chinese government has not bothered as to how India would react to China’s moves.

Several such instances highlight such trends:

Occupation of Indian territory by China  - After the 1962 war between India and China, Beijing occupied thousands of kilometres of Indian territory and has not vacated till today. Near silence of Government of India about their occupying Indian land indicates New Delhi’s reluctance to pick up border issue with China.

Claim on Arunachal Pradesh - China claims that Arunachal Pradesh, which is an Indian province, belongs to them. China has gone to the extent of refusing a proper visa to the residents of Arunachal Pradesh. Further, China objected when His Holiness the Dalai Lama visited Arunachal Pradesh and held a congregation there. Though India has protested against China’s claim on Arunachal Pradesh, they have ignored this issue so far. China’s claim on Arunachal Pradesh has not prevented India from seeking friendship with China in every possible way.

Pakistan’s gift of disputed land to China - Pakistan handed over to China part of Pakistan occupied Kashmir, which India claims as its own. Without bothering about India’s claim, China accepted the “gift of land from Pakistan”, which is now used by China for military and transportation strategic purposes. India is helplessly and silently watching this situation and has only registered a weak protest, which has been ignored by China.

Bowing to China’s pressure on Tibet -  When China invaded Tibet and drove out the Tibetan protestors mercilessly and His Holiness the Dalai Lama with his followers were forced to flee to India, there was no big protest from India. While India gave asylum to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his followers, India has recognized the occupation of Tibet by China as legitimate, though a large number of Indians was unhappy about this. Now, the movement of Tibetan activists in India is restricted and even His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s proposed meeting in New Delhi was cancelled by Government of India sometime back when China protested. Many believe that India’s conscience has been silenced with regard to the Tibetan issue, as the Government of India did not want to displease China.

Dependence on China for trade import  -  Now, India is heavily dependent on China to meet its requirement of several finished products, intermediate chemicals, auto-components, equipment for the solar industry and several spare parts for computers, mobile phones etc. It is claimed that India has a large share of the global pharma industry. However, the fact is that while Indian pharma formulation industry has a large share in the world, it is not so in the case of Active Pharma Ingredients (API), which are input for pharma formulations. For API requirement, India is largely dependent on China.

In the unlikely event of China deciding to stop the export of all such chemicals, spare parts etc. to India, then Indian industry sector would get nearly paralyzed.

In spite of such excessive dependence on China, no worthwhile steps were initiated by India to check the import from China by resorting to alternate sources/methods, as it would lead to the trade war between India and China.  India would not like this to happen.

Support for Pakistan-based terrorists - China has been supporting Pakistan-based terrorists, though international efforts have been made to restrict the movement and activities of these terrorists, who are known to have launched several terror attacks in India. While India has blamed Pakistan for accommodating these terrorists, they have not slammed China in strong words for protecting these terrorists.

China’s growing dominance in the region - Realising that India can be the  only country that can be a potential threat to China  in achieving its objective of regional dominance, China has been systematically gaining some sort of control over India’s neighbouring countries such as Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. These countries have been provided with huge loans for various projects in which China is actively participating. These countries will not be able to repay the debt to China in the foreseeable future and are bound to be obliged to China. Even after realizing that China is steadily tightening its control by getting a prominent place in India’s neighbouring countries, New Delhi is not doing much to counter the situation by any aggressive and worthwhile strategies.

Appeasement of China obvious - It is very obvious that India has been trying to appease China so far as India wants to avoid any friction in relations with China.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited Chinese President Xi Jinping twice to India and gave him a grand reception, like no other country in the world has extended to the Chinese President, making the visit look like a national event in India.

While extensive discussions were carried out between Modi and the Chinese President during these visits or Modi’s visits to China, there is no indication that Chinese acts of aggression such as claiming Arunachal Pradesh as its own territory have been discussed.

The net result is that China is sticking to its stand and is not mending its ways or going out of the way to satisfy India. Obviously, this indicates that China takes India for granted.

Will India’s appeasement end?

The recent decision of India to restrict or prevent investment by Chinese companies in Indian projects makes one wonder as to whether India would end its appeasement policy towards China. One cannot be sure and it is possible that such strong action by India may be short-lived.

It is high time that India should realize that China has the ambition of global dominance by adopting fair or foul means. India’s interests should be protected by redesigning the relationship with China to ensure that it does not become a victim of China’s ambition for global dominance. India’s appeasement approach towards China should end once for all.

(The writer is a Trustee, NGO Nandini Voice for the Deprived, Chennai. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at nsvenkatchennai@gmail.com)