Time for India to move beyond the One China policy: Decoding Pema Khandu’s Tibet remark

Recently, the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu, stated that his state does not share a border with China but rather with Tibet.

This is a bombshell. It directly counters the ‘One China’ policy framework that has informed our national diplomacy till now. But someone needed to call the emperor naked. Pema Khandu has done that, and I hope he gets backing over this from the centre.

For if China can question the territorial integrity of India, so can India. This message needs to be sent clearly to the Middle Kingdom.

It is not just Tibet. We also want Aksai Chin back. We want the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) territory that Pakistan surrendered to China illegally.

If not, India has the right to support the Uighurs’ right for self-determination. India has the right to demand autonomy for Tibet. India has the right to recognise Taiwan as an independent country.

More from Opinion

The formula is simple: One China equals One India, and if One India does not exist, there will not be One China, at least for India.

India must continue building its diplomatic and strategic and military presence directly or indirectly in the South China Sea and with the ASEAN countries. Her sale of BrahMos to the Philippines and Vietnam is a strong message and a counter to China.

India must also similarly keep building the ability to control the Malacca Straits, as it is doing at present by initiating the Great Nicobar project.

A strategic balancing, leverage and prominent regional leadership for India are now in order. The time has come. Nehruvian Panchsheel and non-alignment are dead and gone. The multi-alignment or micro-alignment strategy is the right approach for India.

But India needs to do even more. She must accelerate its infrastructure buildup at the border and along the coast. She must increasingly enhance her security and stay ahead of the race, not just with Pakistan but with China.

India needs to stop questioning if she is a major power. She needs to behave like one. And I am pleased to see the strong pushback from Pema Khandu and Indian leadership.

The shift in West Bengal will bolster the Indian security establishment. The visit by the Myanmar president to India will hopefully create a closer alignment and engagement that will neutralise the influence of China and the US in the region.

India has begun leveraging its geographical advantages with Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. The abeyance of the Indus Water Treaty was a move that has tilted the balance of powers and has given India the true nuclear option that it can always exercise at will. Pakistan knows this and can do nothing about it. It is the only holocaust Pakistan has feared since its independence.

Similarly, the water treaty with Bangladesh needs to be part of a holistic solution that ensures that Indian interests are never compromised in Bangladesh again. A similar come-to-Jesus meeting (or shall we call it a come-to-Krishna meeting?) with Nepal has also given a transparent and clear message to the new dispensation there. Nepal without India cannot survive. This needs to be said nicely, respectfully, and firmly.

India is slowly abandoning strategic passivity. For nearly three decades, her rise was primarily economic. Now it is strategic, military, diplomatic and demographic.

India is beginning to shape its environment rather than merely react to it. For decades she approached China with caution. The assumption was that economic engagement would solve strategic and historic questions. That assumption was wrong. Instead, India witnessed military pressure along her border, the string of pearls aggressively drawn around her, and blatant encouragement to Pakistan and its proxies.

The lesson was clear. Accommodation does not moderate China. Rather, it became a perverse incentive for China to shove Doklam, Galwan, Naku La and Tawang in India’s face. Beijing never extended the courtesy that India accorded to the middle kingdom.

Thus, India’s first response lies in Tibet. It can no longer be a settled issue. The Tibet question is not merely about history. It is about strategic reciprocity.

Beijing cannot repeatedly question India’s territorial integrity while demanding absolute silence on matters that probe India’s sensitivities.

A country that seeks leverage must demonstrate that leverage already exists and can be used. These are the pillars of India’s necklace of diamonds, then.

The vulnerabilities of India’s security structure all these years need to be turned into her greatest strength. That is happening. India must pursue her own interests. Not irrationally. But with realism and a clear articulation of her expectations.

India will reward cooperation. And discourage antagonism. Her neighbours need to find opportunities for mutual benefit and growth with her.

For decades, India tip-toed and walked on eggshells with China. But now the bhurji needs to be shared equally. And China must be encouraged to share in the strategic reshaping that India is directing. With gentle strength and civilisational depth along with smart thinking.

(Pariksith Singh is author, poet, philosopher and medical practitioner based in Florida. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.)