New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar Sunday said that it is still too early to say that India and China’s relationship will return to normal—the rebuilding of trust “will take time”. That fact, according to the Global Times, demonstrates precisely why India and China’s relationship is so significant.
In an editorial on the strategic significance of the India-China detente, Global Times says that officials and media outlets from both countries have been characterising the recent breakthrough at the Line of Actual Control as “not easy”. This phrase, it writes, has profound implications for Asian geopolitics within an emerging multipolar world order.
The timing and venue of this detente, particularly, signal a departure from the Western axis of power, providing a platform for other countries to come together at the BRICS Summit.
“The ‘not easy’ path forward involves balancing multiple imperatives,” the editorial reads. India clearly wants to maintain strategic autonomy, but also wants to address economic necessities, demonstrating a willingness to engage with China in the process.
Normalising India-China ties will require “sustained diplomatic effort”. It’s also an important recalibration in a multipolar world order—especially as so many developing countries are looking to balance their autonomy amid global conflicts.
“In this context, ‘not easy’ becomes not just a description of diplomatic challenges, but also a recognition of the complex path nations must navigate in an increasingly multipolar world,” the editorial concludes. “The China-India détente may be remembered as a pivotal moment in which the architecture of Asian geopolitics shifted toward a more balanced and autonomous future.”
Other global media have arrived at a more gastronomical theme, uncovering food politics in India: The New York Times has a story on the recent Tirupati laddu controversy, while the BBC reports on the recent anti-spitting and contamination fines imposed in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
The NYT reports that Chandrababu Naidu’s “sensational” claims of Tirupati laddus being made with contaminated ghee shows “how India’s food cultures have become increasingly politicised”.
“But the politicisation of food has become more pervasive with the rise of Hindu nationalism under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Vegetarianism and cow protection are now a staple of the political discourse. Mere accusations of eating or transporting beef—mostly against Muslims—can result in lynchings by cow-protection vigilantes and right-wing organisations,” the report reads.
The notion of “pure vegetarianism”, promoted by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, is intended to shape a monolithic Hindu identity, the report points out. And in a country like India, food habits cannot be separated from caste.
“Increasingly, those who do not conform to these ideas of food purity or who question them—including religious minorities like Muslims, lower-caste communities and political activists—have come under attack,” the NYT reports. It ends the piece with how Jagan Mohan Reddy cancelled his visit to Tirupati after Hindu organisations demanded that he sign a declaration form meant for non-Hindu pilgrims.
The BBC reports on a similar communal tinge to food politics through a report on how two states are coming down hard on the alleged practice of contaminating food with spit, urine and dirt. Uttarakhand will fine offenders up to Rs 1 lakh, while Uttar Pradesh is set to introduce stringent laws to address the issue, reportedly penalising spitting in food, with imprisonment of up to ten years.
The moves come after unverified videos went viral online, purportedly showing vendors at local stalls spitting on food, and another one of a domestic worker allegedly mixing urine in the food she was cooking. The message accompanying the video in the second instance had alleged that she was Muslim, while the police later confirmed she is Hindu.
“While the videos sparked outrage among users, with many expressing concern about food safety in these states, some of the videos also became the subject of blame campaigns targeting Muslims, which were later debunked by fact-checking websites,” the BBC writes.
Many opposition leaders and legal experts have “questioned the efficacy of these laws and allege that they could also be misused to vilify a specific community”, the report says.
Food has been a communal tinderbox in the past. The “notion of food safety” too has become entangled with religion, which is sometimes used to ascribe motive to alleged incidents of “contamination”.
The report explains “thook jihad”, or “spit jihad”, as a term being coined by radical Hindu groups, accusing Muslims of trying to defile Hindu food. It’s an especially charged accusation as Muslims were previously accused of spitting, sneezing or licking objects to spread Covid-19, which had heightened religious polarisation during the pandemic.
“Opposition leaders in the two BJP-ruled states have criticised the new directives, saying they could be used to target Muslims and that the government was using such orders as a smokescreen to divert attention from other key problems like unemployment and sky-rocketing inflation,” the BBC reports.
The Financial Times, meanwhile, ran a review of a new book by Peter Doggers on chess, and India finds a mention. The excerpt is on how power across the chessboard is increasingly shifting to Asia, as the ancient sport of chess is experiencing a resurgence due to technology and globalisation.
India, specifically, is at the helm of this movement. The Indian team had a huge victory at the recent Olympiad in September, which is held twice a year. Indian grandmasters will face off against others at the World Chess Championship in November, to be held in Singapore.
“Attempts to rebrand the sport have a decidedly Indian flavour, too,” writes James Crabtree for FT . “During October, a range of elite players, including Carlsen, gathered in London for the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League—an exuberant new competition bankrolled by Anand Mahindra, a Mumbai-based billionaire industrialist.”
The contest was designed to launch a more television-friendly format for chess, with faster games and grandmasters in colourful team uniforms. It’s all “part of a ploy to borrow some of the razzmatazz of the wildly popular Indian Premier League cricket tournament”, according to FT’s review.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
Also Read: Global Media on a potential India-China partnership and its impact on world order, economy