Abhijit Bhattacharyya | Nehru’s China Ghost Is Back To Torment Delhi

Spanish-American philosopher, essayist, poet and novelist George Santayana (1863-1952) was known for his aphorism: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. Britain’s racist wartime leader Winston Churchill later paraphrased it: “Those who don’t learn history are doomed to repeat it”.

This is fairly and squarely applicable to successive ruling classes in India’s history, which has witnessed recurring and miserable failures, putting in peril the very land it was meant to protect and the sovereignty it was supposed to uphold.

New Delhi’s confused policy towards China continues till this day as a classic case study of helplessness and benign naivety, much like the endless stream of waters flowing down from the high Himalayas since 1949-1950 as the show goes on unabated.

First and last, China wants land, sometimes very far from the Forbidden City of Beijing, the heart of its capital. From Kolkata to Kohima, Kalimpong to Kathmandu, along with Quetta, Kohat, Khyber, Kabul, Kashmir, Cox’s Bazar, Karakoram, Kutch, Kochi and Karachi, all are on its radar. To be grabbed directly or indirectly, by applying every possible means.

The symptoms are dangerous, but there are some Indians who can’t seem to remember the lands they have lost over the years. They need lessons on the basics of statecraft. Land lost through force or theft by a foreign power is a loss of sovereignty by India. The independent princely state of Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India on October 26, 1947 through peaceful means and the legal route, unlike independent, sovereign Tibet, which was brutally conquered by Communist Party of China dictator Mao Zedong in 1950. India’s magnanimous first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru made a monumental blunder by not protesting against Mao’s violent seizure of Tibet.

From the founding of the People’s Republic till now, those in India who favour closer ties with Beijing should understand that Mao and successors have harmed India’s sovereignty and independence to such an extent that it would be a tragedy to court China today or tomorrow. One must recall what Army, Navy and Air Force commanders said during the recent India-Pakistan conflict in May 2025 about the brazen, nefarious and nasty role played by the Chinese, whose case is being pushed by the Indian government’s own think tank. The Niti Aayog pressed for easing Chinese firms’ investment rules to let them buy up to 24 per cent of Indian companies. All Chinese investment in Indian companies requires s security clearance. Given Beijing’s perfidious behaviour, particularly of late, how can any official agency actually advocate “easing” of security clearance rules. Does it want to actually encourage espionage activities by Chinese corporations coming loaded with cash to buy Indian companies?

Make no mistake.

Aren’t these so-called “experts” aware how they are playing fast and loose with the nation’s security, how the Communist Party of China and its agencies have been battering India for the past 75 years. Are they indifferent to the joint Sino-Pakistani assault on India’s sovereignty, leading even to the death of soldiers deep inside their own land?

Do they know that of Jammu and Kashmir’s 222,236 sq km territory, Pakistan has gobbled up 72,935 sq km and China forcibly captured 42,735 sq km, leaving only 106,566 sq km of the land under New Delhi’s control? This is a gross violation of India’s sovereignty and independence, and therefore -- trade or no trade -- both remain India’s enemies.

Let us also examine the long list of border violations and killing of Indian soldiers by the Dragon’s party-controlled military from the 1950s till now -- Longju, Kongka-La, Nathu-La, Chola, Doklam, Galwan -- it appears almost endless. And yet, Beijing remains at its sanctimonious best.

China is making every possible effort in its charm offensive to woo the otherwise self-sustained Indian market, which thankfully does not have to depend on its exports. Nevertheless, the Dragon’s tactics are too blatantly devious to be missed.

However, there is a deafening silence from former or serving “China experts” working for the government, while comments on Beijing’s endless hostility are rare even from well-known “Sinologists” outside the official establishment who don’t seem concerned over the recurring Chinese mischief which harms India’s economy, defence, trade, commerce, banking, territorial integrity, safety, security, unity and sovereignty.

In the middle of all this gloom, there was a refreshing reminder, also a reprimand, by Arunachal Pradesh’s chief minister Pema Khandu, who perceptively stated the obvious -- that his state “shares a border with Tibet, and not China”. This was a “delectable geopolitical repartee to the Dragon” from an unexpected quarter, at a difficult time, which countered the one-way traffic of cozying up to the Dragon. A state chief minister has shown the way by going against the Chinese tide swamping India’s terrain.

In fact, the 90th birthday celebrations of His Holiness the Dalai Lama suddenly infused fresh life, however transient, in the Indian State’s policy-makers, as two Union Cabinet ministers, besides the Arunachal chief minister and representatives from Sikkim, attended the function honouring the supreme Tibetan spiritual leader at his headquarters at McLeodganj in Himachal Pradesh. A remarkable change from March 2018, when India’s Cabinet Secretary issued a letter to ban all official participation in the Dalai Lama function in New Delhi as the government was still under a Nehru-like illusion that it could build an enduring “Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai” relationship. This, mind you, just a year after the tense Doklam standoff at the India-China-Bhutan tri-junction.

There is a difference between the 1950s and now: Nehru’s focus was on culture, history, tradition and diplomacy; while that of 21st century India is on trade and commerce.

China, expectedly, expressed displeasure over the Dalai Lama’s activities; but then President Xi Jinping had no qualms shaking hands with India’s external affairs minister in Beijing. What exactly is China’s game? It is to gain access to India’s vast market, after indirectly targeting this country, firing from Pakistan’s shoulders.

After the recent US-made Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad, China smells a new opportunity. It will try to lure the growing Indian aviation market towards its own Comac C-919 passenger aircraft, though it is yet to be certified by Western aviation agencies.

Will India once again be outwitted by Chinese machinations, as in the 1950s. Delhi’s recent move to resume issuing tourist visas for Chinese nationals is a pointer. Can today’s India avoid the historical folly of the 1950s?

Post-Script: On July 19, China launched a $168 billion dam on the Brahmaputra, through which it hopes to starve India to death in the next 10 years. How will New Delhi respond?

The writer is an alumnus of the National Defence College, New Delhi. The views expressed here are personal.