China bent on cutting India down to size: Former NSA

NEW DELHI - Terming China hegemonistic and very aggressive, former national security advisor (NSA) Brajesh Mishra Tuesday called for the right combination of strategic and diplomatic policies to defend India against Beijing’s containing policies.

China is bent upon cutting India down to size. He said China has become very aggressive against India - at Line of Control, in the writings in official media, think tanks and party media.

Mishra was speaking after releasing two books, “The Dragon’s Fire: Chinese Military Strategy and Its Implications for Asia by Rajeswari Rajagopalan and Arming the Indian Arsenal: Challenges and Policy Options by Deba Mohanty published by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), a public policy think tank headquartered in Delhi.

Mishra minced no words to say that you cannot trust China whose only “all-weather friend” is Pakistan. They don’t see any other country, including Russia, as its friend, said Mishra who has also served as ambassador to Beijing in the seventies.

Describing India as the weakest among China’s three rivals in Asia - Japan and Australia - Mishra cautioned that China is just waiting for some years before it would assert itself.

Mishra noted that while Japan and Australia have nuclear umbrellas for their protection, India would have to defend itself from two fronts - both China and Pakistan. Though both fronts are not active simultaneously now, it is probable and possible that both fronts become active, he noted.

Mishra, who was the NSA during the prime ministership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, said unlike in other countries, India is handicapped by the absence of national security culture among politicians who compromised national security because of electoral politics.

Even 20 years after the Bofors scandal, the burden on politicians is still continuing. They are afraid to take (crucial defence related) decisions because of fear of allegations of corruption. Unless this situation changes, we will never be able to become a great power, Mishra, who is also a trustee at ORF, warned.

Looking back his long years of service in government, he described bureaucrats as unguided missiles who will not act without guidance from the political leadership.