The Chinese propaganda machinery is led by its mouthpiece Global Times, known for spreading fake news and damaging adversaries’ credentials. The newspaper recently published an article titled ‘Be wary of India’s provocation amid worsening pandemic’, according to which, India may attempt to “initiate provocation along its borders with China or Pakistan, fanning nationalist sentiments at home to distract people’s attention.”
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The article accused India of mismanaging the pandemic and advised the Indian government to approach China for assistance. This was repeated by the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, when he stated: “The Chinese side notes that the epidemic situation in India is severe and there is a temporary shortage of epidemic prevention and medical supplies. We are ready to provide necessary support and assistance to India so that they can control the epidemic.”
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India’s Covid response
There is no doubt that the second wave of the Coronavirus has hit India hard. The Narendra Modi government and the states are working overtime to ensure that the virus is contained. Medical facilities are stretched to the limit. India is seeking to import vaccines and oxygen but evidently, nothing will be procured from China. For India, the world would stand by as it supported all nations when it could, and it does not need Chinese support. Although India was among the first nations that responded to China’s call for help when the virus first broke out. New Delhi dispatched tonnes of medical aid and needed equipment.
In gratitude, India faced Chinese intrusions in Ladakh. And to cover its fake reports on Covid casualties, the Chinese Communist Party’s brutality on the populace, and to suppress the true nature of the virus’ spread, China launched the wolf-warrior diplomacy, attempting to threaten and subdue nations that asked for a probe into the origins of the coronavirus. It bulldozed the World Health Organization into ensuring that its name is not linked to the virus.
Taking advantage of nations battling the pandemic, Beijing began expanding its conflict in the South China Sea, seeking to grab territories of smaller nations involved in containing the pandemic unleashed from its own Wuhan laboratory. China blocked medical supplies to the countries that questioned its lies and sold the same stores, which it received as gifts, when it was struggling to contain the pandemic. This resulted in the global community coming together to shift essential medical supply chains away from China. China exploited the virus to enhance its power while others stepped forward to support nations in need.
Unlike the Chinese offensive against even smaller neighbours like Bhutan and Nepal, India has never sought expansion of territory. It is to counter these premeditated offensive actions of China that the global community has begun uniting. The rise of the Quad and global interest in the Indo-Pacific is a case in point. China has exploited economically weaker nations battling the pandemic rather than displaying generosity and supporting them. It demanded that such countries also contribute to its medical research in case they desired Chinese vaccines while India offered its vaccines as a global service to humanity.
China stooped low insisting that those entering the country must be vaccinated with its poor quality vaccine, knowing that it has no takers. Sinovac is 50 per cent efficient and is yet to receive a WHO listing. When threatened by similar demands for those travelling from China, it was compelled to back down. During the pandemic, China made more enemies while India gained global recognition and support for its humane approach.
India has been seeking peace and tranquillity along all its borders. It has never sought hostility but development and better bilateral ties. During these testing times, India and Pakistan accepted a ceasefire along the LoC, bringing years of firing to an end and providing much needed relief to people on both sides. This may be the first step towards resolving the India-Pakistan dispute. Despite hiccups and unthoughtful comments by the Pakistani political leadership, who have no say on Pakistan’s India policy, the ceasefire holds and would possibly continue because it has the backing of the Pakistan army.
Also read: Why India opted for a ‘stand-alone’ agreement with China in Ladakh
Behind the disengagement delay
China is continuing to enhance tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) by refusing to further disengage while simultaneously seeking restoration of normal ties. Indian forces, which gave the Chinese forces a brutal lesson in Galwan and showed tactical acumen by occupation of the Kailash Range, remain in place and will ensure that any action by China is repulsed with vigour. India, forcing a stalemate and pushing the Chinese onto the negotiating table, has hit the global reputation of the People’s Liberation Army. There is no doubt that China is finding it hard to justify intrusion along the LAC when it is being compelled to pull back. Hence, it is delaying further withdrawal only as a face-saving measure.
India’s refusal to move forward on normalisation of bilateral ties and accept Chinese investments has hurt Beijing’s ego. Every Chinese diplomat, including its ambassador in India and the foreign minister, has been pressing for restoration of ties, but India stays adamant. This explains the spread of fake news reports in the Chinese media.
The world knows that India seeks peace and has never exploited an internal crisis. On the contrary, China has ducked global questioning and the brutal suppression of Covid cases by its wolf-warrior diplomacy — aggressive actions in South China Sea, LAC incursions and a hostile stance towards the smaller neighbours such as Bhutan and Nepal. The world standing by India while questioning Chinese aggressiveness is indicative of the truth. Global Times must look inwards and seek to lecture its own leadership, rather than point fingers at India.
Maj Gen (retd) Harsha Kakar is strategic analyst and columnist. Views are personal.
Edited by Anurag Chaubey
‘for those who wish to place their political interest above the national interest.’
Modi and BJP are known for that.
W-T-F! WHATABOUTISM. Will your blaming China bring back people dying from Indian Government mismanagement.
I have noticed that Most Retired Indian Military folks are worst Xenophobes. They shouldn’t be provided Journalistic space.
Look at your intolerance because he questions you leftist narrative. It us a fact that China was the cause of millions if deaths and neat crippling if global economy in 2020 and the CPC and the Chinese administration has blood on its hands. China is the worst country and cannot be trusted, people like you believe that only 4000 people died in China but will question when they say we have more than 3 million infections and over 2 lakh deaths. think you should relocate to China, dare you to talk against the PLS and the CPC, you will not live the next day. Shameless creature
Very True! Wuhan virus has destroyed world economy and thousands lost their lives like they did during ” cultural Revolution ” in China during 1960s.
In China millions died due to Covid. But government censored it and put the numbers at 4000+ ony. Everything is utterly censored.
In India, media is transparent. Not under government control. Government controls media only when they publish info which damages national interest. Media and the government are transparent regarding domestic matters.
This is poor journalism, Although some of the claims listed here are peer reviewed, the writer forgot to include empirical evidence for such astronomical claims like the virus originated in a laboratory.
I am glad that the article exudes positivity. These days, The Print has been publishing articles and videos which are negative about India. I am glad that this is a delightful exception. The writer is quite right in defending India’s unwillingness to admit Chinese investments in India. These investments can be more dangerous than intrusions at the border. China can destabilise different sectors of our economy. India must not give China a handle on India’s economy.
People who have abused the writer in the Comments section are imbeciles of first magnitude, or are Chinese mouthpieces.
WE should never ever take any assistance from China no never. They are begging India to take aid from them and then you know what will happen they will walk all over us.
its all ok but just by blaming China will the dead come back
no not yet anyway. The dead will not come back. The punarjanm theory is being fast tracked. This is a good article written like a true military man. Full of holes. Its true that we have more dead in a week than China had in all the pandemic years. We are truly stuck in mire if we think we can still self congratulate ourselves. God bless this nation. Help. Please save us.
The writter is a stupid indian propagandist and ur no better than the chinese uh hate so much. Stupid
I doubt Beijing’s ego is hurt from aid refusal when there is so much self inflicted misery in India due to not taking all the help it can get. The scenes from Delhi on the front page of the New York Times hurts the ego of Indians who are set in the belief that India is the next superpower. But that is far away and the reality hurts ego.
China effectively controlled what happened in Wuhan and they are on guard since for not letting anyone with COVID-19 enter their country…Simple and most effective countermeasure isn’t it…and look at the pile of bodies here….you better investigate whose criminal negligence has brought this devastation after relatively mild 1st wave. Before sniffing at other’s shit lets investigation begin at your own toilet.
the piles of bodies are what you see. Please watch the videos of UP small villages where people bring the dead and dump them in the mid of night in small residential localities and the half-burnt bodies are being chewed on by dogs. Most geart wrenching. terrible
Do not expect peace with neighbors that are not democracies. To run the domestics agenda for retaining unquestionable power every trick in the boo will be tried. The entire polity in a democracy should understand this, but in democracy that understanding cannot be rammed down the throat and there must be room left for those who wish to place their political interest above the national interest.