It is time for India to do a “smart balancing” act with China and also rescue the reading of China from defence analysts, security experts and technocrats. China is a neighbour which cannot be wished away and we need to break the grimness of Beijing watchers and celebrate China. Let us stop sequestering China into compartments of trade, security, technology and look at the need for alternative pathways. This obsession with security kills the imagination while democracy and diversity open it up (Editorial page – “When India and China meet”, May 3).
C.V. Venugopalan,
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Palakkad
Ad-hocism appears to be the hallmark of this government’s foreign policy. Initiatives such as an off-the-cuff visit to Pakistan, which proved to be counter-productive, have been based on the erroneous notion that deep-rooted contradictions in the relationship can be overcome through personal diplomacy. “Diplo-hugs” cannot be the barometer by which to measure the effectiveness of India’s foreign policy. Relationships with almost all countries in the neighbourhood are in a terrible state. Russia, a proven ally, has drifted away. As for China, the relationship which was more or less on an even keel around 2014, was allowed to deteriorate through mindless rhetoric aimed at bolstering the tough image of the Prime Minister. Current efforts aimed at improving the relationship amount to digging holes and refilling them.
Manohar Alembath,
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Kannur, Kerala
It is a lesson for the rest of the world how two hostile neighbours have almost ended their differences and agreed to explore peace. This is a lesson for India too. It is so difficult to have a dialogue with Pakistan at a suitable venue? If the Prime Minister could travel all the way to Wuhan, China, for an ‘informal’ conclave with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping, one is sure that he could find the time and the place to meet with those who matter in Pakistan. Such a meeting long overdue.
D.B.N. Murthy,
Bengaluru