The three tests facing PM Modi : Modiplomacy put to test
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 01 , 2014 -

China maps J and K as its territory and Arunachal Pradesh :: Pix - First Post / TSE

Just a few days after a month of taking office as the Prime Minister of the country, Narendra Modi is already facing three tests-two on the domestic front and the third from across the border or to be more specific from China.

As noted in an earlier commentary in this column, the first two tests on the domestic front have been scripted by the Government itself-the directive to place priority on Hindi and the upcoming Budget on July 10.

It would be premature and hazardous to explain why China has launched a cartographic aggression by including the whole of Arunachal Pradesh and large chunks of areas in Jammu and Kashmir in the map of China but no one will refute or deny that there is obviously an agenda behind this. The timing is all too self evident.

The map came out when the country’s Vice President Hamid Ansari was in China to celebrate the 60th year of Panchsheel, the five principles of peaceful co-existence that served as the bedrock in the relationship between China and India.

This is where the invitation diplomacy of Narendra Modi will be put to test and in as much as everyone is in the dark why China chose to come out with such a map and at such a time when the Vice President of the country was visiting Beijing, it remains to be seen how Modi respond to the new and totally unexpected development.

That Modi is an ardent admirer of the manner in which China has emerged as an economic giant in the world is a point that became clear during his election campaign.

Will it be a turn around or will the statesman in him come to the fore and tackle the situation to his advantage, is the litmus test that awaits Modi.

It is early days yet to judge Narendra Modi’s performance as the Prime Minister of the country, but already expectations are flying high and not without reasons.

But then sweeping the polls by winning the trust and confidence of the people and dealing with neighbouring countries, who are at best silent adversaries are two entirely different things.

Diplomacy cannot be a knee jerk reaction. It is a long, drawn out process, involving a gamut of issues, from settling outstanding disputes, particularly boundary disputes to sharing one’s views on the affairs of the world, such as climate change and nuclear deals and other vital issues.

While no one knows why China chose to come out with the map at this point of time, it reeks of a carefully crafted strategy to test India and its new Prime Minister.

For a country like China, it could not have been an exercise in shooting in the dark and this is where Modi and his Council of Ministers and the Opposition parties need to pool their heads together and study the situation with the merit it deserves.

To dismiss it as a naughty misadventure on the part of China would be missing the trees for the woods.

Sure it was only a map, but it was a strong, very strong political statement at the same time too.

This is about China and its map and while the response of the Government of India is being watched keenly, another development took place at Bangkok, where Modi diplomacy seemed to have scored a point.

Minister of State for Home Affairs and in charge of North East, Rijiju Kiren said all the right things while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the 6th Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction.

Kiren did not speak about disaster management while interacting with the media on the sidelines, but he managed to hard sell India, especially the North East region to South Asia. ‘Action Oriented Peace Talks’. ‘I don’t want to see talks drag on for ever.’

In two sweeping statements, Kiren conveyed the message that the NDA Government under Narendra Modi means business and peace talks with rebel groups operating in the North East would be dealt with judiciously.

In the process he also conveyed the message that South Asia will be dealing with a Government which is very, very different from the earlier one, which ruled India for ten consecutive years.

Encouraging message to South Asia and a point credited to Modi. As for China, we will have to wait and see.