India's Right Wing and India-China Relations

Chen Qi and Huang Dekai

 Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, the number of confirmed cases and deaths in India has risen day by day.  As of July 19th, 2022, the cumulative number of confirmed cases in India has reached 43,783,062, with a cumulative death of 525,785. The epidemic caused the domestic economy of India to decline and the income level of the people to drop, which further aggravated the social unrest in India.

Faced with the situation of domestic and foreign difficulties, in order to divert the attention of the domestic people, the Indian right wing, represented by the Bharatiya Janata Party, took tough measures against China in economic, political, military and other aspects, which seriously damaged China's interests and hindered the healthy and sustainable development of Sino-Indian relations.

Blow to Chinese enterprises in India

Against the background of COVID-19 epidemic superimposed with Sino-Indian border friction, India has adopted a series of restrictive measures against China in many fields, such as economy, trade, science and technology, investment, etc. and its scope and intensity have been continuously strengthened. The purpose is to restrict Chinese enterprises' export, investment and operation in India, and the intention of "decoupling" from China's economy is obvious. On the grounds of "national security", Indian PM Modi imposed a series of "sanctions" on China's economy, in order to vent nationalist sentiments, divert people's attention to the worsening epidemic situation and shift the domestic economic, political and public opinion crisis. For example, on April 17, 2020, India's Bureau of Industry and Domestic Trade Promotion (DPIIT) issued a new regulation on foreign investment approval, which requires prior government approval for investments in India by all land-based neighbors bordering the country under the pretext of "preventing speculative acquisition of Indian companies by foreign investors during the epidemic". For example, on April 17th, 2020, India's Bureau of Industry and Domestic Trade Promotion (DPIIT) issued a new regulation on foreign investment approval. The notice, in the name of "preventing foreign investment from speculative acquisition of Indian companies during the epidemic", required all land neighbors bordering the country to make investment in India to be approved by the government in advance. At the same time, changes in ownership of existing foreign-invested Indian companies must also be approved by the government. Although this new regulation does not explicitly mention China, it is actually tailor-made for China, which puts China's $26 billion assets at risk of shrinking. During the Sino-Indian border conflict in 2020, the Indian government banned more than 300 applications (Aps) related to Chinese enterprises. In December 2021, the Indian government started a new round of anti-dumping duties on five Chinese products for five years. This action is a serious violation of WTO principles and will also hurt India itself. In April this year, the Indian government froze $750 million in assets of Xiaomi Company, and then pointed the finger directly at China's Vivo, saying that Vivo Company was suspected of money laundering during its investment in India, and decided to impose sanctions on Vivo, freezing up to 400 million RMB of Vivo's assets, and also blocking 119 of its bank accounts. India's series of economic sanctions and suppression actions against China are aimed at reversing the high trade deficit with China, de-Chineseing the domestic economy and industry, and protecting India's national economy, but India's dependence on China's economy cannot be eliminated in a short time; instead, protectionist practices will only make India's economy more difficult.

Fanning political opinion, affecting China-India relations

 Since the outbreak of COVID-19, anti-China sentiment in India has been high. Right-wing media such as India's zee tv, ABP or Times of India, have been spouting hate sentiments. For example, on July 29, 2021, the Indian website "Zee News" published a commentary in which it openly referred to China as an "enemy". Traditional media outlets that previously had a more neutral view of China, including the Hindustan Times and The Hindu, have also published derogatory, questionable commentaries on China. Some people in the northeast of India were abused and attacked because of their yellow appearance, and many of them were mistaken for Chinese. For example, after the outbreak of the epidemic, 185 nurses in India resigned en masse from major hospitals in Calcutta after suffering chronic humiliation for looking like Chinese. India's right-wing anti-China has become politically correct within India, a cancer that seriously affects Sino-Indian relations.

Deliberate provocation of military conflicts

Since the New Crown epidemic, the Indian side has violated the consensus several times and created tensions on the Sino-Indian border. This includes increasing troop deployment to the China-India border area and conducting illegal activities across the Line of Actual Control. For example, on the night of June 15, 2020, in the Gallewan Valley area, Indian troops deliberately provoked and violently attacked Chinese officers and soldiers, resulting in four deaths and one injury on Chinese side. On September 27, the Indian military said it was delivering tanks, artillery, infantry fighting vehicles and other weapons and logistical supplies to the Ladakh region. And Subramanian Swamy, a member of the upper house of parliament (Rajya Sabha) and one of the leaders of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, who is over 80 years old, said at a book launch that day that "India should go to war with China if it does not withdraw from Indian territory and return to the Line of Actual Control," according to the Indian newspaper Deccan Herald. "India is no longer the India of 1962." Up to now, China and India have gone through sixteen military chief-level talks and still have not made substantive progress, the reason for which is the unrealistic demands made by the Indian side. The ideological root cause of the Sino-Indian military friction lies in the crazy right-wing Indian concept of "Greater Brahman".

Undermining China's relations with neighboring countries

India has always seen China as the biggest obstacle to its great power status and the development of friendly relations between China and its neighboring countries as a way to reduce India's space for activities. Therefore, it wantonly exaggerates the "China threat theory" and maliciously incites it to undermine the normal and friendly relations between China and neighboring countries. For example, at the end of 2021, the hybrid power station built by China in Sri Lanka was forced to suspend due to "third party reasons". India openly claimed that China's project threatened India's national security and was finally suspended indefinitely. India also instigated Sino-Nepal relations, which were adversely affected by the establishment of a special committee to investigate the alleged Chinese encroachment on land in Humla district in July 2021, after Nepali Congress President Deuba became Prime Minister of Nepal. In addition, India is reported for secretly supporting the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) terrorist group in Pakistan to launch terrorist attacks against Chinese people and Chinese projects in Pakistan, undermining the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Sino-Pakistan friendship. During the Newcastle pandemic, the Modi government viewed foreign medical aid from China and India as part of geopolitical rivalry, resented China's provision of anti-epidemic supplies to South Asian countries such as Sri Lanka, and competed in vaccine aid to Africa and other regions.

In recent years, India's political, economic and military actions towards China are the embodiment of Hindu nationalism. The Indian government is undoubtedly trying to present India's tough image toward China to its population, to reduce the public's concern about the serious domestic epidemic, and to divert domestic attention. However, as two developing powers, seeking common interests is in line with the development trend of China-India relations. India's anti-China behavior seriously undermines China-India relations, hinders the development of China-India relations in a healthy and favorable direction, brings more unfavorable factors to the already depressed economic situation in the post-epidemic era, and brings more uncertainties to the complicated international situation.

(Chen & Huang are Scholars of Yibin Vocational & Technical College，Supported by center for trans-Himalaya studies, LeShan Normal University）