THREE CHALLENGES AND AN OPPORTUNITY

IN A WORLD IN TRANSITION, INDIA HAS THE CHANCE TO RESHAPE AN ORDER MORE FAVOURABLE TO ITS ASPIRATIONS THAN THE PREVIOUS ONES

- SHIVSHANKAR MENON

The year 2022 has drawn to a close, leaving us with a faltering world economy, a seemingly unending war in Ukraine, China swept under a tsunami of Covid infections, nationalism rampant everywhere, geopolitical hotspots turning live and few visible agents of positive change. China-US strategic contentions are also playing out in our vicinity. The challenges for India in this situation are many. A global environment marked by great power rivalry is not necessarily conducive to India's transformation, as it needs external engagement. And yet there are opportunities for India in this world of great power rivalries if we can overcome three fundamental challenges.

THE THREE CHALLENGES

The foremost of the external challenges is China and the threat she poses to India's territorial integrity. What we saw in 2020 on the LAC was a premeditated overt crossing of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) by China, changing the status quo in complete violation of agreements and frameworks. The LAC is now live, and over 100,000 troops of both sides are poised in confrontation all along the line. To prevent further ingress and incursions, the first task is to restore effective deterrence along the LAC by a combination of measures and actions. At the same time, India and China are linked economically, with China emerging as India's largest trading partner in the year of the border incidents. Besides, China is a factor in India's calculus in many other respects as well. The relationship clearly must be reset, a task that can't be achieved without high-level political engagement between the two sides, which has not taken place for over three years.