In this episode of National Security Conversations, Happymon Jacob discusses Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement during the all-party meeting on China with Prem Shankar Jha, managing editor of Financial World and former information advisor to V.P. Singh.
The conversation attempts to unpack the reason behind Modi’s statement which became controversial amongst the Indian strategic community. Jha interprets the statement as a signalling strategy that the Indian prime minister used to signal to China. He argues that the prime miniser was factually correct in stating that the Chinese have not entered India territory as the Chinese have only forced their claims on disputed areas.
Therefore, Modi’s statement is a call for de-escalation. Jha argues that media coverage of this statement undermines this strategy by misinterpreting the prime minister’s words. Jha also discusses the reasons behind the present Chinese aggression at the border and the future of Sino-Indian relations.
