By Prof. Vivek Singh
China is famous for Expansionism which is now leading to self destruction for China. Central Asia, The east & south China seas and the Himalayas regions are volatile because of expansionist greed of China. Tension is now at LAC between India and China. China is the only country in the world having border disputes with 18 countries.
China has border dispute with Japan on senkaku and ryukyu Islands and with Vietnam. China also has border dispute with India over Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh. China claims that entire North Korea belongs to China. China has dispute with Philippines over parts of South China sea. There is dispute between China and Russia over 160000 square kilometers of land. Over a part of South China sea China has dispute with Singapore. China has dispute with South Korea over a part of East China sea. China also claims that South Korea, Laos, Tajikistan, Mongolia and Taiwan are part of China. China also has border dispute with Bhutan. China claims parts of Brunei and Cambodia as of China. Apart from these countries China also has disputes over parts of South China sea with Indonesia and Malaysia. China shares borders of 3400 kilometres with India. China has occupied aksai chin region which is historically part of Indian territory.
Tensions between India and China is steadily increasing on Ladakh border. India has treated well China from the Galwan Valley to the Pangong Lake. Along with the banning of apps by the Indian government, warships have been deployed on the South China Sea. The Indian government is trying to clamp down on China at the political, diplomatic and economic level. Fear of China and its official mouthpiece Global Times can be easily understood.
India is paying more attention to the development of the northeastern states which is hurting China. China has been successful in attracting India’s friendly neighbors Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Nepal by providing financial help. Indian government will have to think in this direction and must provide more financial support to these countries. Almost all major countries in the world blame China for the Covid19. India should have taken advantage of this but our neutral foreign policy missed this opportunity.
Today, World is troubled by the expansionist destructive policy of China. All its neighbouring countries are upset. On the contrary India has never had an expansionist tendency. From land to mountains and from rivers to the sea, China is making false claim with its neighbouring countries in order to expand its territory. Excessive expansionism invites destruction. This is the reason that today almost all the countries of the world stand in favor of India.
In order to counter threat posed by mobile Applications on sovereignty and security of country, 59 mobile Apps of China were banned by the Indian government in June 2020. In July 2020 again the Indian government banned 47 more Chinese apps. On September 2, 2020 the Government of India once again banned 118 apps. In the era of free trade and globalization imports from any country cannot be banned. India is a member of various international trade institutions, agreements and groups. Restriction on Chinese imports won’t serve the purpose. Without imposing any economic restrictions India can easily boycott Chinese goods through indigenisation.
Even in case of economic sanctions China will suffer more than India. India’s exports to China was $16.7 billion in 2018-19 while India’s imports was $70.3 billion from China. India suffered a trade deficit of $53.6 billion in the year 2018-19. In 2019-20 India’s exports to China was of $16.6 billion while China’s exports to India was $65.2 billion which led to a trade deficit of $48.6 billion in the year 2019-20. India’s trade deficit with China was only $1.1 billion in 2004 which increased to $53.6 billion in 2018-19. It will be better for India to promote its international trade with other countries.
we can also understand negative balance of trade of India with China in rupees. As per report of department of commerce, GOI India’s export to China was of ?1.17 lakh crore in 2018-19 while China’s export to India was of ?4.92 lakh crore. India had trade deficit of ?3.75 lakh crore with China in 2018-19.
Chinese smartphone brands like Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus, Realme are dominating our market. Government of india should take qualitative or quantitative measures to discourage imports of these Chinese products. China has captured 72% of Indian Smartphone market, 60% of pharma market, 45% of Smart TV market, 26% of Auto components market.
As far as China’s investment is concerned, in 2014 inflow of Chinese investment towards India was of $1.6 billion which reached upto $26 billion by the beginning of year 2020. Some start up companies such as Paytm, Flipkart, Swiggy, Ola, Gaana received Chinese investment. India can explore investment opportunities from other countries. Today India has forex reserves of more than $538 billion which is enough to pay for 18 months of Indian imports. China is not a profitable market for India. India accounts for about 5% of its total exports to China while 14% of its total imports are from China. India is market of 135 crore people. It is impossible for China to find such a market.
India should isolate China from the world at the diplomatic level.�India’s strategic capability has increased with the arrival of Tejas aircraft. The country should also not hesitate to impose direct economic sanctions on China. India should focus more on the development of the northeastern regions of the country. India should provide more financial aid to neighbouring countries so that they do not get caught in by China. There is need to change our foreign policy with China. India is the largest market for China. With� indigenization China can be made economically weak.�We can also weaken China economically� by focusing on Make in India, Make for World, Vocal for Local, MSME, and Start Up India. China, The Global Times and PLA should understand it clearly that today’s India is that of 2020 not of 1962. Expansionism of China is marching ahead on the path of self destruction.
(The author is columnist, professor of Commerce, Political and Economic Analyst.�He can be reached at viveksinghmumbai@gmail.com)
