Emergency Catalysts for Indian Nationalists: 1975 and 2020

The following couplet is dedicated to both the dictators (1975- Indira Gandhi and 2020- Xi Jinping):

??? ?? ???? ?? ?? ?? ???? ???? ????-???? ???

?? ?? ?? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ?? ???? ???

 

Indian nationalists neither crave nor enjoy the royalties of power. However, whenever Bharat’s sovereignty and security face threats, they rise to the occasion to safeguard “Maa Bharati”.

 

The present Modi government is the proof of the above claim and answer to the atrocities of 1975’s emergency. A dictator again imposes 2020 emergency by first infecting the whole world with coronavirus and second threatening us on borders. He is making the same mistake as 1975’s dictator did, under-estimating the capabilities, skills and atmabal (??????) of Indian nationalists.

 

 

In the wake of ongoing standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh with Chinese PLA (People Liberation Army), the Narendra Modi-led government banned 59 apps including TikTok and WeChat. Indian government should not lift this ban for at least for two years. This ban has multifold strategic impacts. First, it denies Chinese mobile application companies access to the world’s second-largest internet userbase. Second, it abandons the access to lucrative Indian data, which is worth $2trillion tentatively ( as per the research done by Mr Prasoon Sharma- Honorary Fellow- Global Governance Institute, London). Third, this ban destroys 30-40% of Chinese Information war’s infrastructure.

 

China’s cyber troops (Cyber teams, affiliated to government, military or political parties), are manipulating public opinion through these apps in India, Pakistan and Nepal. China has the most prominent cyber troop army (around 2 million). China’s cyber troops pose several threats to India. E.g. Recently, China tried to manipulate Nepal’s and Pakistan’s public opinion about India through these apps and its other social media presence. China’s cyber troop focus on non‐lethal psychological operations using these banned Apps and social networks like Facebook and Twitter to fight enemies by gaining control of the narrative in the information age. The primary task of this unit is to shape public behaviour through the use of “dynamic narratives” to create political propaganda that suits China’s interest.

 

Recently in Meerut, more than 13000 mobile phones became active on the same IMEI. Meerut police registered a case and began an investigation. All mobiles belong to Vivo India. In 2019, one lakh people used the same IMEI number, again all mobiles belong to Vivo India. These fake IMEI based mobile can be used to provoke religious riots/unrest, industrial riots/unrest, political disagreements/clashes etc. It is a massive threat to internal security.

 

Further, F-Secure Labs confirmed that the Xiaomi Android phone does silently send user data to a server in China. Action should be taken against Chinese handset maker- Vivo, Xiaomi and others. Chinese cyber-espionage capabilities heavily depend on Chinese equipment. If we punish culprit Chinese equipment or handset makers, it will not only break the backbone of the cyberwar but also will hit them economically.

 

Just in three days after the ban, Chinese media estimated that the parent company of TikTok- Byte dance – may occur losses worth $6 billion. This estimate should send an alarm to two communities, first to the Chinese communist party that this ban will further weaken their honey trap of economic welfare designed to blackmail Chinese citizens into accepting CCP’s suppression. Second to the Indian start-up community to leverage this lifetime opportunity to create replacement mobile applications and solutions.

 

“Indian government should also use this opportunity to start implementing the local data park project announced by the Indian finance minister in this year’s budget and speed up the Data localization policy- storing data within the country’s jurisdiction. The data localization will safeguard and boost the political economy of Indian data” said Mr Prasoon Sharma- Honorary Fellow- Global Governance Institute, London.

 

 

As per recent U.S.’s Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) survey, nearly 80 % of the Indian and Japanese strategic elites, 100 % of the U.S. strategic elites, and 100 % of the Australian strategic elites surveyed responded positively to the idea of annual heads of government meeting. Australia, the United States, and Japan strongly supported the creation of a standing military task force comprised of the four members under the direction of a joint command. Furthermore, all fours nation endorsed the idea of Quad undertaking a coordinating role in regional economic and developmental assistance, including loans, technical development, and human rights promotion throughout the Indo-Pacific.

 

Recent policy research done by Australia’s Lowy institute states that “All four QUAD countries have common interests in maintaining a stable balance of power in the region, freedom of the seas, an open rules-based economic order, to counter debt-trap diplomacy and to limit the use of coercion by a state to assert territorial claims. Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, China has become more assertive and ambitious, vigorously pressing its claims in the East and South China seas and promoting its BRI. Concerned to preserve the existing liberal rules-based order, the Quad states have already responded by increasing their cooperation.”

 

The QUAD of India, Australia, United States, and Japan seems to be natural outcome of a world wanting to restore democracy across the globe against hegemonistic forces out to destroy peace and development for all 

“The QUAD coalition should also provide the replacement of Hong-Kong and permanent mechanism to solve South-China sea problem. In this regard, the Andaman is one of the best available options because of its proximity to the Malacca Straits and its geopolitical demography. Today over one-third of world trade and one-half of the world’s oil shipments transit the Malacca Straits, including 80 per cent of Japan’s oil imports, 80 per cent of China’s oil imports, and 90 per cent of South Korea’s oil imports. The Andaman can not only accommodate the shifting companies from Hong-Kong but also diminish the container handling prices by reducing the burden from existing ports like Singapore and Malaysia. Further, the Andaman can become intermediary between QUAD and the world on the one hand and as India’s global city on the other based on following four pillars: (1) Foreign Direct Investments (FDI); (2) trade and logistics; (3) finance; and (4) tourism.” said Mr Prasoon Sharma- Honorary Fellow- Global Governance Institute, London.

 

In conclusion, the border standoff amid Covid19 is proving to be Xi’s worst diplomatic faux pas. Because the longer the standoff goes the more significant opportunity India gets to consolidate Anti-China countries and organizations. In case, China withdraws or mellow down sooner; then Xi will be seen as a weak leader internally.