Self-Deception : India's China Policies; Origins, Premises, Lessons by Arun Shourie

Self-Deception : India's China Policies; Origins, Premises, Lessons Reviews

• 
  Amaruvi Devanathan

  When Arun Shourie writes a book, there are three kinds of reactions. The Congress doesn’t speak, the communists denigrate the book and the nationalist becomes sad on reading the book. All three reactions are wholly justified as they are true. The fact of the matter is that the book, true to Shourie’s style, contains detailed analysis, in-depth and incisive evidences to back the analysis and then in the end, the way forward from the current situation.
  
  And, as usual, the way forward is coolly forgotten by the country that continues to live in utopian dreams.
  
  The subject of this book is also on similar lines – Indian nationalism, India’s foreign policy, how the leaders let the country down and what needs to be done to take it forward from the then current abyss. In this book, the leader that has let the country down is, hold your breath, Pandit Nehru. Yes, of all people, how Panditji screwed India’s foreign policy and the aftereffects of that carefully cultivated folly called ‘NAM – Non Aligned Movement’ and the case of mis-placed self-promotion that cost the country dear.
  
  No, this is not an anti-Congress book from a BJP writer. For practical purposes, after Vajpayee started to recede from politics due to health reasons, Shourie has never played any role in the BJP. However, his forthrightness and fortitude are all the same.
  
  It begins with Panditji’s lofty ‘ideals’ at the time of independence in 1947, goes on to explain the lies that he imagined to be true and the imaginary position that he commanded in world affairs and therefore chose to ignore the obvious evil, China and its communist upsurge.
  
  Panditji is warned, with great foresight, by Rajendra Prasad, the then President of the Nation, Sardar Patel, the then Home Minister on China’s evil designs. He is repeatedly sent long lists of evidences from different officers of the Indian Government from Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Tibet, Beijing ( then Peking ). Panditji chooses to ignore each and every one of these evidences and letters. In fact, he admonishes the writers of these letters.
  
  It becomes a habit for Panditji to putdown the very officers of the government who choose to do their duties. Officer after officer presents Panditji with the situation on the ground in Tibet, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin and Lhasa. And every time each of these officers are admonished by Panditji. He puts them down either for their usage of the term ‘communist’ or for the term ‘McMahon Line’. Or otherwise he chides them for some language usage. With these he wishes his hand away from the main problem of China.
  
  The officers repeatedly talk about the issue of China issuing maps that show large parts of Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Tibet as their territory. First he rubbishes them that those were old maps. Later he says the Chinese government doesn’t have time to issue new maps and hence ignore that. And these are exactly the lines spoken by Chou-en-lai, the then Premier of China. And what ever Chou-en-lai says, Panditji repeats.
  
  When opportunity presents itself for Panditji to discuss these issues with Cho-en-lai, he prevaricates. Instead he speaks about Cuba, Algeris, Korean war, the US-Britain imperialism etc.
  
  These, Shourie presents from Panditji’s own letters o his Ambssadors to China, Letters to the Chief Ministers and hid various press conferences. And what we see is that first Pandithi refutes and puts down the questioner, then after some years seems to slightly agree but hide under the garb of ‘socialist thought’ and later only when China attacks in 1962, does he acknowledge the Chinese threat.
  
  And the issue of the Chinese communist threat to India has been there from 1950 onwards.
  
  We also get to know the great debates and questions that happen in Lok Sabha when Panditji is questioned by Prof.N.G.Ranga, Acharya Kripalani and Atal Bijari Vajpayee. Yes, Vajpayee is relentless in his questioning of Panditji on China.
  
  Towards the later part of the book, we get a glimpse of China’s growing hegemony in the world – oil diplomacy, funding diplomacy and later military diplomacy, the way countries in Latin America that are not eligible for IMF loans are provided loans in return for oil favours, the way deep water ports are constructed in Gwadar Pakistan, Sri Lanka almost free of cost with the only condition that China would have first rights for oil transport through these ports, the way oil pipelines have been laid from Burma deep into China, the way Tibetan rivers are diverted to provide water to Central China – all these are explained in great detail with evidence.
  
  And the Chinese way of usurping territory – ignore complaints, silently encroach and set up base and later claim that they had never had any contention in the area under question. The other tactic is ‘murder with borrowed knife’ – arm the enemy’s enemy. And China excels in that.
  
  And what is also explained is the complete policy paralysis in India right from the days of Panditji to the current regime when inaction is eulogized as policy and strategy, ignorance is camouflaged as wisdom and policy paralysis has become the norm.
  
  And towards the end of the book, we get the complete but abysmal picture of the current state of affairs especially with respect to foreign policy ( better that we don’t discuss about the other fronts like Finance, Education etc ).
  
  The book leaves you with a deep sense of shattered national pride.
  
  A must read for every Indian nationalist.
• 
  Aditya Kulkarni

  Every Indian must read this book, particularly given the current context. This goes beyond 1962 and describes in detail how flawed economic and strategic policies of successive Indian governments have ensured that there is a huge gap between China and India. The sad part is that in 1980, India was ahead of China on every economic parameter that is considered. our GDP (PPP) and per-capita income were better than that of China but due to flawed socialist economic policies followed by the successive Indian governments between 1980 and 1991, there was a drastic reversal of fortunes and China aided by Deng's reforms at the same time, lept forward, leaving India behind.
  
  Today, China's economy is about 6 times larger than ours. Their defence budget is way bigger than ours. They have made huge investments in R&D which is something where we have miserably failed. The only way India can take on China in the given situation is through building alliances with like-minded countries like Japan, the US, Vietnam, Indonesia, Australia, the UK, and others who have concerns about the rise of China. Arun Shourie delivers a brilliant book, yet again!
• 
  Manisha

  India-China relationship discourse throws lights on national security based on retro threats that China imposed on it & other South-East-Asia countries through warfare activities. The large portion of the discourse covers the span from 1950 to 1963 and takes through the sequences chronologically.
  
  Mr. Arun Shourie's work is always the result of thorough research and hence becomes important source of information. He always insists on reading a lot about everything immaterial to what news reporters or news agencies bring forth. Along with providing the factual information, Shourie explicitly exchanges his blatant views over the decisions taken in the past by the leaders that caused us damage, which if done around the time would have saved us dignity in huge.
  
  The book weaves stories through letters written by Pt. Nehru to the China government authority, mostly to Chou En Lai, in the context of the confusion and adamancy shown by them and misleading Indian eastern parts with them through their maps. This is an enigma which still persists between both the nations.
  
  The trajectory through the letters and speeches given by Pt. Nehru in House, to the Chinese officials, or other global leaders, conversations that held between him and Chou En Lai, discloses the character of the relationship which was forming steadily between both the nations. India as represented by Pt. Nehru, got itself misguided by Chinese histories. The tactics in politics are fundamental. China is characteristically communist and hideous conspiracy against India it was building through attacks on Tibet, were portending Pt. Nehru to devise mechanism to strengthen military powers.However, his conspicuous arguments to deny China's ambitions about usurping most of the lands having similar culture or belonging to it in the history is regrettable now.
  
  China's strengths today is the manifestation of their strong desire and fear of not loosing ever to any foreign rule, They have expanded their force into national security and defence, nuclear weapons, adversary warfare, education, industrialization, research and technology, per se in manifolds, that they are emerging to become global economy and force very soon.
  
  Shourie mentions that the gap to fill in by India will be wrong to think as China has leapt forward humongously, and hence India needs to enforce strictly on some thought provoking advices that Shourie mentions in the end of the book.
  
  The book also has various illustrations and notes derived from different paperwork done by think tanks from all over the world. There are some unknown or forgotten instances about serious attacks done by China on national security maliciously.
  
• 
  Sumit

  Its unfortunate but unflinching truth that almost all countries lose sleep over their neighbours, India is no exception to the rule and we are blessed with not one but multiple of such neighbours. A prudent course of action for a country in our situation would be have a highly developed foreign policy and national defence system. We have neither of these two, Indian psyche have been increasingly focused on most pressing (read breaking news of the day) for ages and this has resulted in many tragic yet avoidable losses for the country.
  If we were to name a country which is out there to do us a harm, all of us would name Pakistan without blinking our eye,and what we overlook is the biggest threat to our nation is China.
  This book tries to rectify that, Arun shourie lays bare the action of a single individual who was most appropriately placed by history to stop events that took place from happening,but in a ironical chain of events, he himself led to create a foundation for those very outcomes. Nehru had a high opinion of himself which would have been a great asset if had been able to see in terms of anything but black and white. He wanted to be a statesman and in his pursuit of this he somewhat neglected his core duty of defending his own country. He was so busy saving world that he became an instrument of his own country's shame and loss.
  Everyone has a lot to learn from this reading but most above all for all Indian's it is necessary that they first learn about past without any bias and than use those learning in shaping our preparation for future. Any country may wish to remain peaceful , but forced with war by its neighbours it has no choice other than to defend that highly cherished peace. India as mentioned above is surrounded by countries who are against the rise of India (either as peaceful nation or regional hegemony), hence we above all must be prepared to fight for ourselves.
• 
  Neeraj Bali

  Self-Deception: India’s China Policies – Origins, Premises, Lessons by Arun Shourie
  
  Focus on India’s relations with China never recedes to a point where the contents of a book on it become anything less than riveting. Add to it meticulous research and scholarship of an author like Arun Shourie and you have an absorbing read on your hands. Self-Deception: India’s China Policies – Origins, Premises, Lessons turns its spotlight largely on the history of our diplomatic handling of China, especially by the first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru. It does traverse the more contemporary ground too, albeit briefly.
  
  The central theme of the argument has been this: our handling of relations with China has been extremely inept and self-deluding. We have lived – and continue to do so – in a bubble of denial, often ignoring signs of clear and present danger. In the 50s, we somehow convinced ourselves that there was no pending border issue with China, that somehow our supplicant acceptance of China’s annexation and absorption of Tibet had bought us a permanent seat on the table of friendship, that the Chinese leadership was dependent on our sagacity for learning the nuances of diplomacy and that every Chinese aggressive or hostile move needed to be explained away by us lest the country became anxious! It appeared that we had forgotten that self-generated ‘hope’ should hardly be the sole pillar of foreign policy.
  
  The book solidly relies on documentation. Letters from Prime Minister Nehru to the Chief Ministers, minutes of meeting between Nehru and Chou En Lai and speeches in the parliament have been quoted extensively. There is little to redeem us in those documents.
  Many years ago I had read Neville Maxwell’s India’s China War. The conclusions that Maxwell had reached regarding our diplomatic handling of the border dispute were exactly the same. This book provided me with a gloomy confirmation.
  
  Have things changed since? I wish there were reassuring signs but neither the book nor media reports provide us with any. Only recently we described a blatant Chinese intrusion thus: “one little spot is acne, which cannot force you to say that this is not a beautiful face... that acne can be addressed by simply applying an ointment.”
  
  When Arun Shourie was the editor of the Indian Express, he was known for outstanding investigative journalism. Indeed, he was the pioneer in that form of print-media, one who unerringly dug up facts and presented his reports without fear. Later, even as a Union Minister he was known for his competence and probity. All this is reflected in his writing.
  The book is highly recommended for anyone with an interest in the trajectory of relations between China and India – and the course correction that ought to be applied.
  
  Self-Deception: India’s China Policies – Origins, Premises, Lessons Arun Shourie Focus on India’s relations with China never recedes to a point where the contents of a book on it become anything less than riveting. Add to it meticulous research and scholarship of an author like Arun Shourie and you have an absorbing read on your hands. Self-Deception: India’s China Policies – Origins, Premises, Lessons turns its spotlight largely on the history of our diplomatic handling of China, especially by the first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru. It does traverse the more contemporary ground too, albeit briefly. The central theme of the argument has been this: our handling of relations with China has been extremely inept and self-deluding. We have lived – and continue to do so – in a bubble of denial, often ignoring signs of clear and present danger. In the 50s, we somehow convinced ourselves that there was no pending border issue with China, that somehow our supplicant acceptance of China’s annexation and absorption of Tibet had bought us a permanent seat on the table of friendship, that the Chinese leadership was dependent on our sagacity for learning the nuances of diplomacy and that every Chinese aggressive or hostile move needed to be explained away by us lest the country became anxious! It appeared that we had forgotten that self-generated ‘hope’ should hardly be the sole pillar of foreign policy. The book solidly relies on documentation. Letters from Prime Minister Nehru to the Chief Ministers, minutes of meeting between Nehru and Chou En Lai and speeches in the parliament have been quoted extensively. There is little to redeem us in those documents.
  
  Many years ago I had read Neville Maxwell’s India’s China War. The conclusions that Maxwell had reached regarding our diplomatic handling of the border dispute were exactly the same. This book provided me with a gloomy confirmation. Have things changed since? I wish there were reassuring signs but neither the book nor media reports provide us with any. Only recently we described a blatant Chinese intrusion thus: “one little spot is acne, which cannot force you to say that this is not a beautiful face... that acne can be addressed by simply applying an ointment.” When Arun Shourie was the editor of the Indian Express, he was known for outstanding investigative journalism. Indeed, he was the pioneer in that form of print-media, one who unerringly dug up facts and presented his reports without fear. Later, even as a Union Minister he was known for his competence and probity. All this is reflected in his writing. The book is highly recommended for anyone with an interest in the trajectory of relations between China and India – and the course correction that ought to be applied.
• 
  Surajit

  Conservative intellectuals and writers are usually dismissed by the liberal junta, let me tell you, this was like a breath of fresh air.
  
  What do you do when your neighbouring dragon is 10 times more powerful economically and militarily and 20 times more machiavellian?
  
  Well, Nehru, for his part, closed his eyes, crossed his fingers and fervently hoped the dragon is vegetarian.
  
  Contrary to what we would like to think, we aren’t doing much better in current times.
  
  Now that the Chairman has consolidated his powers in 2018 and is probably more powerful than the original chairman, this book is exponentially more relevant.
  
  BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING US!
• 
  Sharat Bandlur

  Take a bow. His immense knowledge about the external affairs is portrayed well in his writings. I am surprised why was Mr Shourie not given external affairs or defence portfolio in this current government. It would have made a world of good for India. India needs to change its policy towards this bully China. Now it's high time we indict the points told by Mr Shourie in our policies towards China. JAI HIND
• 
  Mahesh

  shourie proved that nehru was a thorough moron, kennedy writes about nehru that "when i talked to that man, it felt like clutching at the mist" inspite of all this i feel that nehru gave india a vibrant democracy
• 
  Vijay Bishnoi

  A must read for anyone interested on indo china relation..author has beautifully put the hollow policies followed by Nehru vis a vis china..suggestion given by author at the end of book for strengthening indian position in regard to china should be implemented immediately...
• 
  Nabanshu

  Makes me feel that I need to read more. While the book always refers Nehru's works and official notings whenever a point is being made, the chances of selective quoting seems to be very high.
• 
  T P S Sidhu

  Excellent book.
• 
  Udit Srivastava

  "When you're powerful, all shackles break and there is a way out of every problem"
  This quote from the Guru Granth Sahib forms the basis of the policy we should have to face a mighty and expansionist neighbour like China.
  I picked up this book after watching a video of Arun Shourie on Youtube at the launch of this book. Also, this seemed to be an opportune moment to understand the history of India China relations since Independence.
  A major portion(almost all) of the book covers the events between 1949 and 1962 and the shaping up of India- China relations during that phase leading up to the 1962 war where we faced a humiliating defeat at the hand of Chinese and lost a 40,000sq km of our land in Aksai Chin.
  I finished reading the Discovery of India a few days back and fell in love with the thoughts, ideas and idealism of Panditji and he is addressed as the same across the book. For the uninitiated, Jawaharlal Nehru is reverently called Pandit Ji in India. The idealism, the desire to establish or appear as a world leader of Non Aligned Movement, extremely poetic and liberal views on matters regarding foreign policy that Panditji held led to a disaster. While going through the letters and texts of the debates in parliament during this period, one understands how the Chinese were able to deceive Panditji who was so enamoured by his ideas that he was opaque to the sound advise of his fellow parliamentarians and bureaucrats.
  The book, however is not a criticism of Nehru's policies in totality. After reading the book, the reader gets the understanding about the expansionist, racist and skeptical mindset of the Chinese and how they have been using deception as a policy to advance their aggression into other territories. The book is very well researched and is highly recommended for someone interested in understanding of India's China policy.
  In case the book seems too heavy or uninteresting, the picture on the cover page with Dr. Manmohan Singh Genuflecting before Hu Jinatao sums up our Foreign policy from Chou En Lai to Xi Jinping.
  It's an alarm clock for the world in general and India in particular to rise from the slumber of complacency and wake up to the threat that this mighty neighbour poses to the sovereignty of India and other countries of the world.
  5 Stars !
• 
  Conrad Barwa

  Wow, packed full of Sinophobic hyperbole. An insight into what 'nationalist' thinking on China-India relations is like amongst the Indian right. Alarming.
• 
  Prakash Holla

  It’s a long narrative of how the vanity of being known as a leader with vision encompassing the globe rather than limiting just to his nation and the resultant blinkered outlook in handling China’s brand of imperialism, Panditji though being an ardent patriot, had jeopardised/marred the stature of India...and speaking of present day scenario he states how the the word ‘nationalism’ has been derogated to the status of becoming an abusive word and emphasises the urgent need to restore it to its primary status of a word that drives the nation to ‘unite’...