Renowned former Chief of Army Staff (CoAS), under whose leadership of the Indian Army from 1997 to 2000 India won the Kargil War against Pakistan, General (Retd) Ved Prakash Malik has called for a full strategic review of ties with China.
Gen Malik has emphasised in an interview to the news daily, “We have reached the stage where there is a requirement to seriously review our policies toward China, not just diplomatically, economically, militarily also.”
Gen Malik stressed that the frequency of confrontations along the LAC has been on an upsurge and that the cycles have been getting shorter. He further added that the level of threats and warnings have also gone up in recent years, making it imperative for the armed forces to be prepared for all eventualities.
Also emphasising the role of armed forces in dealing with the situations like the one prevalent along the LAC, Gen Malik said, “India is not interested in picking a fight, but when your national interests are jeopardised, like in this case, diplomacy without adequate military backing cannot succeed. Your risk-taking ability in negotiations gets enhanced when you know that you can defend yourself on the border.”
Gen Malik further said, “We don’t want a war, but when you are faced with such a situation, you don’t want to leave your diplomacy and political initiatives without any backing. It’s nothing new to say that globally, diplomacy feels more comfortable in negotiations when they know that there is a strong military to defend the country.”
Gen Malik has also warned that China might once again stoop to backing secessionist elements in the Northeastern States, even unleashing a high-tech cyber war against India.
