EVENTS

Abstract

What began as yet another routine border skirmish along the LAC eight months ago, took an ugly turn with the killing of 20 Indian soldiers on the night of June 14-15. Apparently, “frustration” in Beijing has been growing with a series of military and diplomatic talks resulting in a failure to manage the “crisis” – unlike what was eventually achieved in Doklam. In India, on the other hand, there is near consensus that the Galwan Incident marks an inflection point in India’s China policy. At the same time, the narrative in China hasn’t toned down a bit, that it is India’s growing belligerence fuelled by its ever-closer intimacy with the external anti-China forces led by the United States which is the reason for the unprecedented situation. Further, in recent weeks, particularly since it became increasingly certain not Trump but Joe Biden will move into the White House, there has been an unusual rise in commentaries on India in the Chinese media. An indication that the more China is trying to 管控 or “control” India, the more a “dogged” India is touching a nerve in the Chinese psyche.

About the Speaker

Hemant Adlakha, PhD, is Professor of Chinese, Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. He is also an Honorary Fellow with the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi. His areas of research include political discourse in the P R China and modern Chinese Literature and Culture. He is a member, International Editorial Committee, International Society for Lu Xun Studies, Seoul (ROK). His articles have appeared in China Report, The Diplomat, Japan Times, Encyclopaedia of Race and Racism, 2nd Edition, Washington etc. His co-translation of Lu Xun’s prose poetry collection from Chinese into Hindi has been published by the NBT in November 2019.

About the Discussant

Kishan S Rana: MA economics, St Stephen’s College, Delhi. Indian Foreign Service (1960-95); Ambassador/High Commissioner: Algeria, Czechoslovakia, Kenya, Mauritius, & Germany; Joint Secretary, PMO (1981-82). Emeritus Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi; Professor Emeritus, DiploFoundation; Archives By-Fellow, Churchill College, Cambridge. Authored and edited eleven books on diplomatic studies; two translated into Chinese. 300 articles and book reviews in journals and newspapers.