China India Photo: GT

While China is keen to come to an early and proper settlement of the border issue with India, some political lunatics in India have been advocating a border war with China without considering the consequences. 

Pro-war political madness will bring nothing but catastrophe to India. As China's national strength, including its military power, is much stronger than that of India, India is doomed to be the loser if India provokes a border war with China again.  

According to Indian newspaper Deccan Herald, BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy said on Saturday that India should go to war with China on the border if China is "not going to go back to what was the original position in 1993." "We need a battle with the Chinese unless they voluntarily agree to withdraw... teach China a lesson that we are no more the India of 1962," he said. 

This is not the first time that the Indian politician uttered belligerent remarks. In an interview with New Indian Express in January, Swamy said India needed to demonstrate the will to oust the Chinese who "occupied" Indian territory. He also claimed the PLA is vastly overestimated. 

The 81-year-old dotard's words are utter nonsense and crazy. The PLA is stationed on China's own territory. It's the Indian side that has long surreptitiously engaged in salami-slicing tactics to gradually occupy China's territory. Politicians like Swamy have deliberately confused right from wrong. 

They clamored India should teach China a lesson to let China know India is no more what it was in 1962. Of course, today's India is indeed not the India of 1962, nor is China what it used to be. The two countries' GDPs were roughly the same in 1962, but now, China's economy is nearly five times the size of India's economy. China is among the first countries that have put the COVID-19 epidemic under control and led economic recovery amid the global pandemic, while India has been hit hard by the outbreak and is struggling economic hardships that the epidemic has brought. Not only in the economic arena, but also from the perspective of military strength, China's advantages are overwhelming. If a border war breaks out between China and India, India will have no chance of winning.  

In the long run, the best choice for India is to properly resolve border disputes with China and develop partnerships that promote each other's development. Regrettably, after the Galwan Valley clash in June 2020, ultra-nationalism has been surging in India. It has even become "political correctness" for politicians to make irresponsible anti-China remarks. Worse, the epidemic has aggravated the situation, as Indian politicians and officials have been more inclined to divert people's dissatisfaction over the government's poor response to the epidemic by making an issue of China. 

"The BJP should have the wisdom and rationality to restrain the politicians and officials from making anti-China belligerent speeches," Lan Jianxue, head of the Department for Asia-Pacific Studies at China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times. "Otherwise, India will leave the region and world a belligerent ultra-nationalist image, which is detrimental to India's development and rise in the long run."  

The surging anti-China belligerent remarks by some Indian politicians reflect a weak, anxious and panicking India. Indian politicians keep stating India is not the India of 1962. A truly strong country will never put its strength and confidence on its lips. India aims at bluffing by uttering belligerent remarks against China. But this will not have any impact on China's determination to safeguard its territory. China is firm in defending its territory and sovereignty. Saying tough and uttering provocative words won't bring India any good. 

"India should understand that China exerted great restraint regarding the Galwan Valley clash; otherwise, India's casualties would have been severer," Lan said. India should learn a lesson from its Galwan fiasco, knowing what kind of policy is in its best interest, Lan noted.