The Third Plenum Roadmap promises better governance and openness: Will Chinese Leadership Deliver?

CCP Central Committee Decision concerning ‘Some Major Issues in Comprehensively Deepening Reform’ undoubtedly is the most comprehensive reform agenda since the 3rd Plenum of the 11th Party Congress held in 1978. It also conforms to the various developmental goals enshrined in the 3^rd Plenary Session of the 12^th Central Committee in 1984 and more importantly a three-stage modernization path (sanbuzou) paved for the next 62 years during the 13^th national Congress of the CPC held in 1987. That is  to say by the mid of this Century, the resolve to build a moderately prosperous society, which is synonymous to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Chinese Dream  has been reiterated, and yet another comprehensive roadmap has been drawn for its realization. 

 

The roadmap for deepening the reforms is bold and comprehensive that touches upon major issues concerning Chinese politics, military, economy, ecology society and culture. These initiatives are not the outcomes of the crisis, as it was the case with the roadmap of the 1978 3^rd plenum, rather result of the accumulated experience over the last three decades, and the earthshaking changes that have taken place since the initiation of the reforms.  The roadmap will not only transform the Chinese society in terms of governance and its structure and capacity further, but will also have far reaching ramifications on the global economic and political system.  Many western critics have argued that there are inherent contradictions in deepening of the reforms and political systems. However, the post 1978 experience has demonstrated that the governance has become more transparent with China adopting market economy and becoming a more open society. For example the abolition of the agricultural taxes and levies did come heavily on corruption and local officialdom. The governance should also be measured in terms of system’s ability to provide public goods and services at one hand and maintain social law and order on the other, and I believe, the post Mao China has delivered it all, and it is in this connection that the comprehensive roadmap for further deepening of reforms would make the existing governance much more better.

 

There are 15 odd major areas which the plenum has set for reforms and have attracted worldwide attention. Some of these are the abolition of "reeducation through labor", loosening of the family planning system, reform of State-owned enterprises (SOEs), property tax reform, reforming China's household registration system, balanced rural-urban development, reform of the petition system, private banking, educational reforms, legal reforms, setting of national Security Council etc.  Some of these, for example minimizing the rural-urban divide may be the most challenging; however, some of the initiative such as peasant cooperatives and rural companies managing the rural lands may be the game changers and realize the long cherished vision of the scale farming in rural sector.  In the same vein, the reforms in the household registration may also prove difficult given the current scenario, but we may see gradual relaxation in second and third tier cities. The reform of the ‘education through labor’ the reminiscent of the old communist thinking demonstrates the confidence of the new leadership as well as a promise to improve human rights in the judicial system. A core leading group, directing and monitoring the roadmap could set aside various bureaucratic hurdles one hand and give the Party ultimate control of the processes. 

 

Another issue that has been added to the existing material and spiritual civilization is the issue of ecological civilization, thus demonstrating the sensitivities of the leaders towards environment and ecology.  Similarly the new leadership has resolved to strengthen the national cultural soft power, which is extremely important if the rebalancing of the civilizations has to be realized. This in other words would be a befitting reply to the US rebalancing to Asia Pacific. If China takes the high moral ground in the direction of civilization state away from the Westphalia  nation state, its policies and actions would be endorsed by the world community instantly and also take the discourse away from the western centric geopolitical model that has divided nations, families through various wars of aggressions and left the world more insecure. 

 

狄伯杰：中印关系将定义国际新秩序

【印】狄伯杰
　　近年来，印度一直因政策无能而饱受指责。而令人惊讶的是，尽管印度与中国之间存在政治不信任以及其他消极因素，但两国关系不仅显露出成熟，而且比以往更深、更广。
　　印度总理辛格本月将访问中国。此次访问是对中国总理李克强今年5月访印的回访，也标志着1954年后两国政府首脑首次在同一年内实现互访。这表明印中关系正在向战略深度发展，同时两国关系也在多个不同领域不断得到扩展和加深。
　　试想一下，印度与中国的边境陷入动荡会怎样？正是由于现有的边界机制，两国边境才得以维持和平。印中已签署一系列边界协议，这些协议并不是两极 世界、冷战和印中不对称力量结构的副产品，而是两国从敌对和冷战中汲取出来的经验，是两国在建立外交关系之后相互接触和友好关系的结果。这些冲突管理机制 一再强调，印中边界问题应通过和平友好磋商的方式加以解决。
　　印中在实际控制线的对峙表明，双方任何试图增强驻扎边界军事力量的举动都将造成更多紧张局势。而这些对峙的和平解决则反映了，双边关系正逐渐走向成熟，双方都有信心和意愿解决危机，防止危机滑入危险境地。
　　两国的贸易和商业发展正处于自印度独立以来最好的时期。10年前，双边贸易额仅为50亿美元，但在2011年已经跃升至740亿美元。正如安全 领域的冲突管理机制，印中在贸易和商业领域也建立了一系列磋商机制。但尽管如此，双方的行动仍然十分谨小慎微，在经济合作领域依然会考虑到安全问题的成 见。印中联合研究小组的一项研究认为，两国之间的贸易仍然具有大幅提高的潜力。高速铁路和其他基础设施项目的投资被认为是重要机会。对于印度而言，这将是 学习中国经验的机会。同样，为了解决贸易逆差问题，中国可能会给予印度更多的市场准入。
　　两国的民间交往目前处于最好阶段，有超过60万印度人每年来到中国。在中国大学学习的印度学生数量超过1万人。尤其值得一提的是，9月21日至24日在北京、9月26日至27日在印度分别举行首届两国媒体交流大会。派驻对方国家的记者数量也在增加。
　　尽管印度和中国的状况已经不同于10年前，但两国在全球舞台的合作依然得到加强。尽管两国在经济发展和人民生活水平等领域的差距不断拉大，但双方在世界舞台的交流依然不断增多。两国已在气候变化、国际金融机构民主化等问题上找到了利益共同点。
　　虽然印中关系在各个领域均处于最佳阶段，但依然在一些历史遗留问题上存在竞争。未得到解决的边界问题依然是各个层次相互猜疑的根本原因。尽管如 此，印中双边关系依然强劲有力。两国都意识到，全球政治结构正在经历根本性变革，力量平衡正在逐渐由大西洋转换到太平洋。尼赫鲁的“亚洲复兴”梦想和邓小 平的“亚洲世纪”展望似乎正在成真，但未来它们的实现有赖于印中关系，因为两国关系不仅将定义亚洲的新国际政治秩序，同时也将定义世界的。▲(作者 B.R.Deepak是印度尼赫鲁大学中国和东南亚研究中心教授，本文由伊文翻译)

Manmohan Singh’s China Visit and India-China Relations: Despite Negativity the relationship is broader and deeper than ever before

In recent years, India’s has been widely criticized for its policy paralysis, which has been reflected in the dwindling economic performance and all time low Rupee depreciation on the one hand and dysfunctional foreign policy on the other, especially when it comes to India’s smaller neighbors.  At the outset, it halted the subsidized fuel supply to Bhutan just prior to the general election in July 2013. It became an election issue there and the then prime minister and chief of the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa, Jigme Thinley suffered a defeat.  Secondly, the Indian Parliament scuttled the Land Boundary agreement between India and Bangladesh at India’s own peril in early September 2013, for the passage of the legislation would have enabled the swapping of enclaves thus solving our boundary issue with Bangladesh, and also bring relief to the hapless people living in these enclaves without any basic amenities since last 65 years! Worse, it would be an election issue too that would weaken the hands of pro-India Bangladesh prime minister and Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina, and strengthen the hands of Jehadi and anti-India forces in Bangladesh. It has shown equal political immaturity when the government put on hold the dialogue process following the beheading  of an Indian soldier and mutilation of another in an attack by Pakistani troops in Poonch sector in January 2013. Surprisingly, India’s relations with China have not only shown the maturity but are broader and deeper than ever before notwithstanding the negativity and political mistrust between the two.

           

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s China visit is falling a few months prior to the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Panchsheel agreement between India and China, the first ever confidence building measure (CBM) or the conflict management mechanism (CMM) between free India and China. The visit, which is a return visit to the visit of the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to New Delhi in May, will mark the first instance of back-to-back visits by leaders of two countries in the same year since 1954.  It would maintain the momentum of the visits at the highest level, and is a pointer to the fact that India-China relations are moving towards a strategic depth as these have widened and deepened at various levels.  Let us examine the following facets of this relationship:

Security scenario

Imagine if India’s borders with China plunge in the kind of volatility we have witnessed with our western neighbor! Thanks to the existing border mechanisms that India-China border has remained peaceful and there has not been a single incident of bloodshed for almost half a century.  The Joint Working Group (JWG) on border in the wake of Rajiv Gandhi’s December 1988 China visit could be regarded as the second CMM after the Panchsheel. The “Agreement on Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border area signed on September 7, 1993; the Agreement on Confidence Building Measures in the Military Field Along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border areas signed on November 29, 1996; and the Protocol on the Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for the Settlement of the India-China Boundary Question signed on April 11 2005 are unique in a way that these are not the byproduct of bipolarity of the world, neither the cold war, and nor the asymmetrical force structure between India and China; rather the evolution of these CMMs could be seen as lessons learnt by India and China from the hostilities and Cold War, and the result of the rapprochement and engagement after the establishment of diplomatic ties between India and China. The CMMs have emphasized time and again that India-China boundary question shall be resolved through peaceful and friendly consultations. Neither side shall use or threaten to use force against the other by any means.

Even though there have been reports of troop transgression or incursion at the Line of Actual Control, but this has been owing to the differing perceptions about the LAC by India and China. In the wake of such incidents, India and China in early 2012, signed Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) at Joint Secretary Level of ministries of foreign affairs of the two countries especially for timely communication of information on the border situation, and for appropriately handling border incidents. In March 2012 both sides also agreed to undertake joint operations against pirates and sharing technological knowhow on seabed research. Another mechanisms, the Border Defense Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) that proposes the prevention of face-offs like Depsung Bulge of April-May along the LAC. The agreement could be concluded during Singh’s China visit.

The face offs along LAC are an indicator that any attempts to enhance the military capacity along the borders by both India and China may create further tension along the LAC and vitiate the security environment. On the other hand, the peaceful resolution of these face-offs point to the maturing nature of ties, and that both sides have the will and confidence to dissolve the crisis bilaterally and prevent the crisis from acquiring dangerous proportions; on the other hand, it is also a pointer to the fact that India-China relations remains “fragile” and the border issue is the root cause of most of the trust deficit and mutual suspicion, if not handled properly could rekindle the animosities in no time, and that the existing mechanisms have been effective in maintaining the peace and tranquility along the border, however, have also demonstrated that these fall short of finding a solution to the border issue. Therefore, it becomes imperative for both India and China to show political will and resolve, and reach an agreeable resolution of the border as soon as possible so that a way is paved for a firmer hand shake and trust.

CMMs at different level as well as “Memorandum of Understanding for Reinforcing Communication and Cooperation in the Defense Areas” between India and China signed during Pranab Mukherji’s, the then Defense Minister of India China visit, literally made joint military exercises on counter terrorism, fight against piracy, joint search and rescue between these two countries possible, albeit there still exists security deficit which is manifested in the form of visa refusal to Lieutenant General B. S. Jaswal, of the Northern Command by China in 2010, and suspension of defense ties by India with China in a tit-for-tat move. Irrespective of minor hic ups the overall environment has increasingly shown remarkable improvement. There are exchanges between all the three armed services of India and China at various levels never seen before.

Trade and commerce scenario

The trade and commerce between the two has never been so good in the history of independent India.  Bilateral trade a decade back was just 5 billion US dollars, but rose to 74 billion dollars in 2011. However, owing to global economic meltdown coupled with India’s own macroeconomic policies, it dropped to around USD 66 billion in 2012. The target of taking it to the mark of 100 billion US dollars in the backdrop these dwindling figures and widening trade deficit of around 30 billion US dollars for India may derail the projections. As we have seen CMMs in security, the trade and commerce have also witnessed the establishment of the Joint Economic Group (JEG) on Economic Relations and Trade, Science and Technology at Ministerial Level established in 1988; Joint Working Group (JWG) on Trade at Joint Secretary Level established in 2003; The India-China Joint Business Council (JBC) between Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on the Indian side and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT); India-China Trade Remedy Cooperation mechanism at Joint Secretary Level, and many other JWG in other sectors like coal and steel etc.. In order to deepen and elevate the current levels of exchanges at micro and macro levels, both sides agreed to establish the annual Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) since 2011. During the second SED held in Delhi 11 MoUs worth $5.2 billion were signed.

Notwithstanding such initiatives, the approach from both the sides has remained cautious and incremental. There are also prejudices as regards security issue amidst economic cooperation. A study conducted by the JSG about the trade patterns between India and China suggests that a very significant potential exists for substantial expansion of trade between the two countries. The investment in high speed railway and other infrastructural building projects could be considered as big opportunity windows to both the countries.  For India it could prove as an opportunity to learn from the Chinese experience, for it was during last 30 years of experience that China could develop its own technologies, perfect its  manufacturing facilities, bring in new managerial practices and become self reliant in many sectors, like heavy machinery and computer hardware. Conversely in order to address the balance of trade issue, China could give a bigger market access to Indian pharmaceutical and IT companies in the Chinese markets.

 People to people exchange scenario

The people to people exchanges are at the best; there has never been so many people traveling from one country to another. Over 600,000 Indian people have been traveling to China annually comprising of businessmen, academics, tourists, governments officials, cultural troupes and so on. Indian students studying in Chinese university alone, accounts for over ten thousand. The governments have taken various initiatives, be it the exchange of students; youth delegations; cultural festivals; media exchanges; and Cooperation in Mutual Translation and Publication of Classic and Contemporary Works. Worth mentioning are the first ever and back to back Media Exchange conferences held in Beijing between September 21 and 24, and in Delhi between September 26 and 27. Interestingly much of the negativity is created by the media only whether print or electronic, and most of it revolves around border, PLA and other security issues in India.   The Indian delegation that visited China was amused to see the kind of changes that were taking place in media, and how the Chinese media has geared themselves to the needs of 600 million plus netizens, and how the social media was emerging as a watchdog in a society where it is believed that freedom of expression was a taboo. The number of reporters stationed in India and China has also gone up, albeit the number of Indian reporters in China remains low in proportion to Chinese reporters in India.  

Global scenario

Even though the state of India and China is different from it was a decade or couple of years back when both India and China witnessed impressive growth rates to the tune of over 8 and 9 percents, the cooperation at global stage has strengthened even if India’s economic performance has dwindled to 4.4 percent this year. Even though the gap between India and China is widening in terms of economic development and overall living standards of their population, both have witnessed increased level of engagement at world arena. Both have found some real convergence of interests on issues such as climate change, democratization of international financial institutions through multilateral forums such as Russia-China-India Strategic Triangle, Brazil; Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS); Brazil-South Africa-India-China (BASIC); the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF); East Asian Summits (EAS); G 20 and other multilateral forums such as both the countries being observers in Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). India and China have also initiated dialogue on terrorism and Afghanistan.

The multilateral cooperation has been used to strengthen the bilateral relations by both the countries, and both are working towards raising the level of bilateral relationship with the hope of creating larger stakes in each other’s economic systems through complementarities and interdependence. These have also resulted in China scaling down its policy of supporting India’s neighbors.  Even though the relations have been best at bilateral, regional and multilateral level, there are elements of competition along with the problems left over from the history. The unresolved boundary issue remains the fundamental cause for mistrust at every level. China’s ‘all weather friendship’ with Pakistan and supplying the latter with sophisticated military weaponry including the missiles and nuclear technology, has cropped up time and again when referring to security environment. China using water as a weapon to coerce India has also created a negative image in India, albeit it largely remains the creation of media hype. Conversely, China has also accused India of meddling in its internal affairs by encouraging the Dalai Lama to engage is separatist activities, and also by fishing in the troubled waters of South China Sea on the one hand and coming closer to the US, and Japan for containment of China on the other. The joint statement signed during Singh-Obama meeting in US on 28^th September that envisages closer defense and strategic ties, and India’s decision to participate in the Rim of Pacific (RIMPAC) naval exercises in 2014 would certainly ruffle some feathers in Beijing.

Nevertheless, despite of all the negativity and an element of competition, the bilateral ties are robust. Both have acknowledged that the global political architecture is undergoing a fundamental transformation with balance of power gradually shifting from the Atlantic to Pacific. The notion of Nehru’s ‘resurgent Asia’ and Deng Xiaoping’s ‘Asian Century’ seems to hold ground, however, the future these notions would largely depend on the relationship between India and China, for the relationship will not only define the contours of new international political order in Asia but also the world at large.

Antony’s China Visit and India-China Security Deficit

In order to strengthen the fragile defense ties and improve the security environment between India and China, the Indian Defense Minister Mr. A. K Antony headed a defense delegation to China between July 4^th and 6^th.

He held talks with his counterpart Chang Wanquan, Special Representative on the boundary question Mr. Yang Jiechi on various defense and security related issues including the confidence-building measures (CBMs) along the border; military to military relations; and the forthcoming joint military exercises to be conducted in October later this year. He also met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and paid visit to some of the Chinese defense establishments. Antony’s visit was a return visit to General Liang Guanglies’s 2011 China visit and as an Indian Defense Minister after a gap of 7 years.

Liang Guanglie’s India visit had broken some ice, and given an incremental push to the security ties that had deteriorated in 2010 when China denied visa to Lt. General B. S. Jaswal, General Officer Commanding Chief, Northern Area Command of the Indian Army. Chinese Premier Li Keqian’s India visit restored some of the trust and continued the momentum of the ties in the wake of Depsang border transgression stalemate that had continued for three weeks and almost jeopardized the visits of Indian Foreign Minister to China and that of Chinese Premier’s visit to India. Antony’s visit could have consolidated the fruits of these visits, but Major General LuoYuan’s remarks made during his interaction with the All China Journalists Association a few hours before Antony’s landing in China overshadowed the visit and reminded us yet again the nature of perpetual security and trust deficit between India and China.

General Luo who is known for his hawkish and anti-India rhetoric is well known in the strategic circles, but the timing of his remarks is unfortunate and abominable, especially when both sides are reiterating that the media should not be given ammunition to stir and flare up the hypersensitive issue. He had told the journalists that ‘there is still the problem of 90,000 sq. km. of territory that is occupied by the Indian side. I think these are problems left over by from history and we should look at these problems with a cool head. Particularly, the Indian side should not provoke new problems and increase military deployment at the border area.”

Analysts believe that the Depsang transgressions is the making of generals like Luo Yuan, and also an indication that the PLA does not give a damn to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in China.   This is also demonstrated by the fact that the stalemate took such a long time to resolve, for India’s channels of communication for negotiations were primarily with the MoFA. It is also believed that the Chinese transgression is in response to India’s infrastructure development and security measures along our borders.

It is precisely owing to these concerns that China has pushed forward for a freeze in such measures and infrastructure development along the border through the mechanism of Border Defense Cooperation Agreement (BDCA), and rightly rejected by the Indian side. BDCA, therefore would be another mechanism in the line of various other mechanisms on border, and would be inconclusive like others as far as the final resolution of the border is concerned, though these mechanisms have prevented incidents like Depsang from snowballing into an armed conflict and have effectively contributed to the peace and tranquility along the border.   

Even though the security environment owing to JWG on border, the 1991 and 1996 CBMs, the mechanism of Special Representatives in 2003, and Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for the Settlement of the India-China Boundary Question, Mechanism on Coordination and Consultation on Border Affairs etc. have contributed to the incremental improvement in the security environment, but as long as India and China are not able to address the core issue of border and the spin offs of the issue, the environment cannot register considerable improvement, and would continue to be held hostage to statements like General Luo Yuan or those emanating from his Indian counterparts from time to time.  

The unresolved boundary issue is the fundamental cause for mistrust at every level, owing to which there was a war between the two, the wounds of which are still festering at least in the minds of the Indians. The spin off has been the huge security deficit, which has led the other side to believe that they have been ganging up with the third parties to contain them.

Secondly, China’s ‘all weather friendship’ with Pakistan and supplying the latter with sophisticated military weaponry including the missiles and nuclear technology, has posed a threat to India’s national security. Even if India and China doesn’t fight another war, but the image China has created in the minds of every Indian is that of a rogue who has been destabilizing Indian state through a third party for decades. The hosting of Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif during Antony’s China visit is said to be part of this calculus from China, and Luo Yuan’s statements could also be seen in this context as well. And, will it improve the environment when China signs 8 agreements with Pakistan, some of which would involve the disputed territory of POK?  See for example the $44 million Xinjiang-Rawalpindi fiber optic link or the $18 billion economic corridor between Xinjiang and Pakistan’s Gwadar Port. It may be noted that administrative control of Gwadar has been taken over by China recently. The military exercises, even though these are termed as related to counter terrorism, their approaches towards terrorism are totally different. China sees terrorism in the region from Pakistani prism, notwithstanding the fact that some of its own ‘terrorists’ are trained in Af-Pak region.

It is for the same reasons that India fails to understand why China should be concerned about India’s presence in the South China Sea, when China itself is indifferent to India’s sensitivities in its disputed areas with Pakistan.  It is for the same reasons that India fails to understand why China should be weary of its cooperation with the US, Japan, Vietnam and other countries in the region, when China itself has been engaging with many of India’s neighbors at various levels.

Some analysts would say that Antony should have called off the visit in the same manner as Vajpayee did in 1979 when China invaded Vietnam and cited teaching Vietnam a lesson similar to what  it was supposed to have taught  India.

 India, instead of its myopic thinking over issues needs to take a futuristic and long term view. Here Indian policy makers could take a cue from China’s policy makers who have drawn a roadmap for China’s development by 2049. The roadmap would make China a developed country, and goals so far have been achieved ahead of schedule by China’s planners. It is here, why many of Indian and foreign strategic thinkers deem India as a dysfunctional state with inherent policy paralysis. While the momentum of the high level political visits as well exchanges between the two countries at all levels need to be maintained, strengthened and deepened, India must learn to wrest the initiatives at the same time, else we would end up in a similar situation as it happened during Antony’s China visit.

India under perennial psychological fear from China: Wechat faces shutdown!

It is not surprising that WeChat (weixin), a powerful mobile communication application from Tencent (tengxun) Inc. that supports sending voice, video, photo and text messages from platforms and devices such as iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Symbian and BlackBerry devices, have come under the scanner of Intelligence Bureau (IB) couple of weeks after it was launched with a much fanfare by Bollywood starlet Parinneti Chopra on May 14, 2013. This is not the first time that the ghosts of the Chinese companies have loomed large over the national security horizon in India; Chinese telecom giants Huawei and ZTE Corporation, India have already faced the unpleasant consequences from various government agencies and ministries in recent past. It has been reported that the IB has told the National Security Advisor (NSA), who also happens to be India’s Special Representative for border negotiations with China that applications like WeChat may bring in new cyber threats in the country and have suggested its ban.

This is yet another example of India reeling under perennial psychological fear from China after much media hype about China using water as a weapon by way of damming Brahmaputra, and other issues related to border transgressions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that remains undefined. So much so, the recent agreement during Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s India visit on ‘media exchanges and cooperation to improve the mutual understanding and friendship of the two peoples, and to hold a India-China High-Level Media Forum’ has been seen by some ‘strategic thinkers’ in India as a Chinese ploy that would open floodgates of national security for Chinese espionage!

Have the platforms like Facebook, Skype, Twitter, Google talk, and many other apps endangered national security even though the National Security Agency of the US has been snooping social media and telephone networks around the globe for many years? WeChat has many things in common with above applications. Whereas Skype charges its customers for voice chat over phone or computer, WeChat so far has been offering these services for free. Unlike the western platforms, the WeChat was launched in India in July 2012 in partnership with Ibibo, an Indian company holding 20 percent of shares. It has customized it for Indian clientele by adding Hindi to its language bouquet. Of late, it has also launched a feature that allows companies and brands to open accounts, Yahoo, Cricket, and even Café Coffee Day has instantly opened accounts along with many other brands. In fact India’s Silicon Valley needs to learn from Tencent Inc. as to how to expand horizontally and cater to the mass customers by doing R&D. In its brief history of 15 years, the company has grown into China's largest and most used Internet service portal, offering applications such as QQ (QQ Instant Messenger), WeChat, QQ.com, QQ Games, Qzone, 3g.QQ.com, SoSo, PaiPai and Tenpay and boasts of over one billion users. This year’s first quarter revenues of the company were USD 21.61 billion and earned a gross profit of USD12.11 billion. 

Demonizing of the dragon is the product of our own thinking and making, which is no better than the fears and anxieties of the people of Qi state in ancient China, who feared that the sky might fall and cause destruction to their hearths and homes. I believe we need to seriously introspect why we are living in the shadow of such a fear, the fear that demonstrates no confidence in our people, government, systems and even army. China would continue to score psychological points and advantages over India if we don’t come out of it.

It is true that owing to historical reasons and animosities in the 1960s, India and China have been suffering from a deep rooted mistrust and security deficit. For a better security environment, India and China need to maintain and deepen the momentum of the high level political visits as well exchanges between the two people including armies at different levels. Vibrant trade between the two may prove a catalyst to create a better environment and reduce the security deficit greatly.

We can only hope that a better sense would prevail in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Department of Telecom (DOT) before they block the application. Shutting down the application would deteriorate the already fragile security environment, the need of the hour from the Indian side should be rather to bring in drastic structural adjustments in ours security apparatus and ensure that the systems and institutions are efficient and robust. Its cyber command is nascent; the cyber security experts in the IT ‘superpower’ are no more than a few hundred comparing China’s million plus! We are years behind as usual China’s security architecture forget about the real IT superpower the US!