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| BJP for specific China policy |
| Press Trust of India / New Delhi Dec 09, 2009, 16:08 IST |
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Asking the government to formulate a specific China policy, the BJP today said India needed to develop relations with international players who would ally with it in case of any trouble with Beijing. Opening the debate on Sino-Indian relations on behalf of the opposition, senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi said, "India has not made any friends internationally who would help it against China".
Joshi argued that United States and China had been quietly developing a relationship all these years due to their economic goals and the US need to control Russia during the cold war era. "But we ignored this and as a result, we could not make any long-term China policy," he said adding, "China and the United States will eventually divide the world among themselves".
"Is the Government thinking about countries which will help us or will the policy continue to be America-centric," he asked.
Claiming that the Chinese wanted to teach India a lesson in 1962, Joshi said, "China could never digest that the two countries were being equated. "India should not be caught napping if something like this happens again," he added.
The former Union Minister observed that over the last two-three years, China had again become aggressive as evident in its opposition in the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the Asian Development Bank and World Bank. "China has also helped Pakistan get nuclear weapons. It is in this perspective that we need to see whether we need a change in our China policy or not," he said.
Joshi contended that India, which was supposed to emerge as an Asian giant, had come up as just a regional power. "The government is terming more than 20 incursions across the country's boundaries as routine. The country is not ready to accept this anymore," he said. "You (the government) should either say that they are not ready (to take on China). But like we were caught napping in 1962, this might happen this time also," he said.
Rebutting the opposition stand, Congress member Sandeep Dikshit said, "India does not need to be scared of China." The only problem is that unlike other parts, the border with China has never been completely demarcated, he said adding, "UPA government, has for the first time, sought to settle all border issues between India and China".
Contending that incursions happen from both sides, he asked, "But is this a sign of China's aggression? China also says that we go to their side from time to time". "It is sad that for small political gains, they (the opposition) say that we need other country's help," he said. "Our army is not weak. If anybody looks at us, they will get an adequate reply," he added.
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