Why not ask RAW what the Chinese are doing on the India-Pakistan border?

After the Northern Army Commander reported presence of PLA close to the Line of Control, the Foreign Secretary has asked the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for a detailed report. End of story! Why not ask RAW what the Chinese are doing on the India-Pakistan border? But RAW may not even respond, not being under Ministry of Foreign Affairs and would in any case be engaged in how to do down the Opposition, in conjunction other intelligence agencies. Isn’t that the role of intelligence agencies penned in a book authored by a former Intelligence Bureau officer?

Why bother what Chinese are up to in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK)? Hopefully, New York Times may publish a detailed report, elaborating on their previous news item that 11,000 Chinese are doing 14 projects in PoK. That is why the comfortable smiles of the Chinaman ex-Hong Kong and Pakistani ex-Islamabad interviewed live by Headlines Today on April 6. The innocent façade is hydel projects and energy security.

Forget that China has usurped 38,000 square kilometres of our territory in Aksai Chin merely to give ‘depth to her Western Highway’. Forget China’s consistently innate aggressive behaviour right from 1948; against Manchuria, Tibet, India, USSR/Russia, Vietnam, Bhutan, blatant nuclear proliferation, Tiananmen, shooting US aircraft (2001), ‘String of Pearls’ around India, nibbling our territory, claim to Arunachal, assertions in South China Sea and Indian Ocean. After all what if war breaks out with China, Pakistan or both? Surely the international community fearing nuclear war will ensure early termination. Admittedly, much blood of soldiers will be shed and many medals will be awarded but what the hell? Don’t these fellows after retiring take recourse to writing letters in their own blood to the Supreme Commander and keep frequenting Rashtrapati Bhavan to return their medals despite only low level staff meeting them.

Isn’t economic prosperity the global mantra? What if we are focused on ‘personal economic prosperity’ alone? Look at it this way – if we all become corrupt without exception, will this not lead to ‘collective economic prosperity’? The likes of Anna Hazare must understand this. We can even bribe China and Pakistan not to attack us. Having achieved hundred percent corruption levels, acceding Arunachal to China could even be a strategic masterstroke of expanding our soft power of corruption across borders. Surely that is the grand strategy that ordinary citizens fail to understand. That is why there is no need for a national security strategy. No need to define national security objectives. No need to integrate foreign affairs, defence and homeland security. No need for institutionalised strategic thinking mechanism within the MoD. After all, our cupboards are overflowing with reports from advisory bodies like the National Security Council. We can always open these files after war breaks out. Why bring the military into the strategic thought process? Let them play their little war games. Why integrate HQ Integrated Defence Staff with MoD? Why bother about cyber security? In any case, we are importing bulk of the hardware, critical software and telecommunication equipment from China and abroad. Stupid of Chinese with fake Indian pan cards trying to meet Indian insurgents. Don’t they know we are so corrupt we could have arranged it for them.

How ridiculous of the Group of Ministers to recommend a Chief of Defence Staff in the euphoria of the Kargil War. They obviously forgot our very own grand strategic agenda. This will not change despite Late K. Subramanyam’s dedicated lifetime efforts to inculcate strategic culture in our impotent hierarchy. Only a major catastrophic event ‘may’ instigate them to address this dysfunction. Jay Ho!