In a rare candid assessment by the military leadership of the biggest military and economic challenges being faced by India, Army chief General Manoj Pande said Monday that China was seeking to replace the US as the global net security provider, while believing in the policy of “might is right”.
General Pande also made it clear that the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China needs to return to normal and status quo must be restored before the bilateral relations between the two countries can move forward. While noting that LAC tensions have the possibility of triggering escalation, he asserted that the Indian Army has made adequate arrangements to deal with any contingency. Speaking at the Savitribai Phule Pune University Monday, the Army chief said China’s rise as a political, economic, technological and military power has accorded it a new hierarchical position in the world order, which it intends to lead. He said China’s forays in the South China Sea, rejection of International Tribunal awards on maritime claims, activities in the Taiwan Straits and actions along the LAC bordering on bellicosity, make it increasingly apparent that China’s interpretation of an “international rules-based order” rests on “might is right”.
China’s strides as a political powerhouse are evident in its pursuits of a much larger and “higher seat on the high table” said General Pande, adding that brokering of peace talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran earlier this month and putting forth the Chinese 12-point Peace Plan for ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict, “is reflective of a Chinese urgency to replace US as the global net security provider”. He noted that China is also attempting to gain clout in international organisations which were traditionally dominated by Western nations. The means though remain through steady acquisitions of key official positions, use of economic leverages and aggressive ‘wolf warrior’ diplomacy or ‘bullying tactics’, he claimed.
