Localise and contain dokalam dispute
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval’s visit to Beijing has not resulted in any immediate resolution to the standoff with China at Dokalam. But this does not mean that his trip was entirely fruitless. Apart from his formal meetings with his counterparts from Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa to generate understanding on greater coordination on combating terror, Doval has also carried out several meetings with senior functionaries in the Chinese power hierarchy. It is to be hoped that the Chinese have a better understanding of India’s concerns and sensitivities on the subject, and that this would help prevent further escalation of the dispute and lead to an eventual resolution. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reportedly asked senior civilian and military leaders to tone down the rhetoric on China, ahead of his visit to Beijing in September for this year’s BRICS summit. This is entirely the right approach to the problem on hand. Even as sections of the Chinese media wax militant against India in relation to Dokalam, reports keep flowing of rising Chinese commercial interest and engagement with India. India’s growing and maturing market for telecom, cars, ecommerce and construction is of vital interest to a variety of Chinese companies and there is no let-up in their preparations for acquiring a respectable market share in India. This duality of perspectives, hostility on the part of sections of the official media and eager-beaver commerce on the part of Chinese businesses and investors, shows the way forward. India, too, must localise the problem as something restricted to a minor part of the extensive and multi-pronged engagement with China, one that does not necessarily obstruct sustained growth in engagement, provided China, too, seeks to limit rather than escalate the dispute. For India, what is at stake in Dokalam is credibility in the eyes of the Bhutan government and pre-emption of a logistical advantage for China that could potentially cut off the Northeast from the rest of India. China should be persuaded its own concerns are less pressing, by far.
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