LONDON (UK) – House of Peers member Lord Rami Ranger has written to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to correct the mistakes made by his predecessors regarding the country’s foreign policy with neighbouring China.
Baron Ranger, who is of Indian origin, in his letter pointed out in detail why India should be wary of China. This comes in the backdrop of the face-off between Indian and Chinese troops on the border in the Himalayas last month in which New Delhi lost 20 soldiers, including a colonel.
Citing an old proverb “you that you should not befriend those who do not share your values”, he said: “Anyone could have predicted that friendship with a communist China and a democratic India was a mismatch.”
The founder of Sun Mark, a global marketing and distribution firm, Baron Ranger said that Indian leaders did not realise the true nature of China when it annexed peace-loving Tibet in the 1950s. “The Indian Prime Minister at that time, Jawaharlal Nehru, even coined the phrase, ‘Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai’ (Indians and Chinese are brothers). I recall as a student shouting this slogan repeatedly,” he said in the letter.
“As Indians were celebrating their newfound love for Communist China, Beijing attacked India in 1962. India lost some territory, prestige and her precious sons who tried to defend their Mother India ill-prepared and ill-equipped.”
“Chinese troops crossed the McMahon Line and took up positions deep in Indian territory, capturing mountain passes and towns. The war lasted one month but resulted in more than 1,000 Indian deaths and over 3,000 taken as prisoners. The Chinese military suffered fewer than 800 deaths. By November, Premier Zhou Enlai of China declared a cease-fire, unofficially redrawing the border near where Chinese troops had conquered the territory,” he reminded the Indian prime minister.
To emphasise his point, Baron Ranger referred to the skirmish between Indian and Chinese troops in 1967 over the two mountain passes, Nathu La and Cho La, that connected Sikkim, then a Kingdom and a protectorate of India. A scuffle broke out when Indian troops began laying barbed wire along the border and the fights soon escalated when the Chinese began firing artillery shells at the Indian soldiers. In the ensuing conflict, more than 150 Indians and 340 Chinese died.
He also cited the incident in which a Chinese platoon pitched a camp near Daulat Beg Oldi near Aksai-Chin, Ladakh, in April 2013. “The Indians soon followed, setting up their base fewer than 1,000 feet away. Troops and heavy equipment later fortified the camps. By May that year, both sides had agreed to dismantle their encampments, but disputes about the location of the Line of Actual Control persisted,” he said in the letter.
In his letter, Lord Ranger flayed Beijing’s ill-treatment of its citizens and trampling of free speech and human rights. “People go to concentration camps just for expressing their views. It is a Communist Party way or no way. The horrific images of Tiananmen Square still come vividly into our minds when a peaceful protest by the pro-democracy protesters, who were mostly students, were crushed with brutal force,” he said, adding that Indian leaders ignore the ruthless nature of their neighbour.
The lawmaker in his letter pointed out the plight of the Uyghur Muslims as yet another example of how China mistreats its people. “Over a million Uyghur Muslims are in labour camps under forced treatment to make them renounce their faith. Now the Chinese government is forcing Uyghur women to be forcibly sterilised despite the condemnation of the world. It just goes to prove the ruthless nature of the Chinese system where, like everything else, even the people must comply with a predetermined and specified pattern. Their behaviour informs us how they show no respect or regard to the civilised norms we take for granted,” he said in his letter to Modi.
Pointing out how the Chinese authorities are not forthcoming with any information about the origin of the pandemic, Lord Ranger said India should understand what it can expect from the Communist State. “The Chinese government is known to go back on their agreements without warning, a hallmark of their character which India should be wary of by now. The breach of the Hong Kong agreement with Britain is yet another proof of how Chinese go back on their word,” he said in the letter.
He expressed concern over India buying cheap Chinese products. “India exported jobs to China and also destroyed the incentive for Indians to manufacture the same in their country. Indians had lived without Chinese products for centuries as nothing China exported was essential for the Indians. Indians still buy many non-essential consumer goods; without them, they can easily survive,” the letter said.
Lord Ranger told Modi in his letter that “If India does not stem its trade with China forthwith, it will continue to undermine India’s security, integrity and industry. India must change to change the results for itself.”
The member of the House of Lords also said the Indian government needs a clear strategy to build India by helping Indian entrepreneurs to manufacture in India with collaboration with friendly countries of Europe, USA, South Korea, Singapore and Japan.
Pointing to the challenge of Make in India, Baron Ranger said the Indian government must offer entrepreneurs industrial units coupled with grants and soft loans to import machinery. “It will be a win-win situation. A new digital and industrial revolution will create products for the local and export markets which will bring employment and prosperity for Indians.”
He said it is time for the Indian leaders to take a positive step and motivate citizens to do more and to do better for the good of their motherland.
British Herald