Vijay Gokhale, former foreign secretary, made these revelations in his new book The Long Game: How the Chinese Negotiate with India. Chinese are becoming more sophisticated in their manipulation of Indian media.
The Chinese used close connections with the Left parties in India (CPI, CPM, CPI-ML etc.) to build domestic opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal, but they ensured it was all done behind the scenes.
Former Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, one of the top secretaries in the External Affairs Ministry dealing with the Indo-US nuclear deal, has made these revelations in his latest book, The Long Game: How the Chinese Negotiate with India.
“…China utilized the close connections with the Left parties in India. Top leaders of the Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist) would travel to China for meetings or medical treatment…the Chinese were aware that they had fundamental concerns about the Indo-US nuclear deal,” quoted The Indian Express.
It further quotes, “Knowing the influence that the Left parties wielded in the United Progressive Alliance government of Dr Manmohan Singh, China perhaps played on their fears about India’s tilt to the Americans. This may have been the first example of China’s foray into domestic politics, but they were careful to remain behind the scenes.”
China is becoming very sophisticated in its manipulation now. Gokhale writes, “Instead, the Chinese appeared to operate through the Left parties and the left-leaning media in India that had an ideological problem with regard to nuclear weapons, in an effort to build domestic opposition to the Indo-US deal. This might have been the first instance for China to operate politically in Indian domestic politics. China is becoming more sophisticated in its manipulation of Indian interest groups.”
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