Lopsided Diplomacy?

India's obsession with the West, at the cost of neglecting peaceful and prosperous East Asia, might be a diplomatic folly in today's deeply polarised world

- DIPANKAR DEY

The past few weeks have witnessed considerable hostility between India and Pakistan. India, on May 7, conducted civil defence mock drills across 244 officially designated Civil Defence districts, to enhance emergency preparedness. Around the same time, it also executed Operation Sindoor—targeting terrorists sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. In response to the operation that killed over 70 individuals, Pakistan carried out fatal cross-border mortar shelling and attacked Indian military establishments—most of which were successfully intercepted. As a counter-measure, India, too, attacked Pak military establishments. Lahore's defence system was dismantled in the process.

On the Eastern border, India has deployed the Russian-made advanced S-400 Triumf air defence system in the strategic Siliguri corridor, often called the Chicken's neck. This deployment is seen as a response to the growing air force activities by China and Bangladesh near India's border. Military experts have often warned that if an enemy, especially China, carries out a quick and well-planned attack — through the sensitive Doklam Plateau — it could cut off India's north-eastern states from the rest of the country in just a few hours. It is reported that the interim government of Bangladesh has approached China to build a new air base in Northern Bangladesh, adjacent to the Indian border.