Reports indicate that China has mobilised heavy military resources on the border and at least 40,000 troops are now stationed on the border regions. Along with personnel, China has moved anti-aircraft guns, heavy armoured vehicles and host of other materials.

Informed experts feel that China is bent on mounting another heavy push against the Indian positions along the border. China is believed to be bent on its show of force —a sort of “shock and awe” kind of move to overwhelm India with the vehemence of its attack. This is in retribution to very heavy losses Indian army troops have been able to inflict on the Chinese.

There is surely a collateral hardening of positions leading to an atmosphere of uncertainty. Days before US ordered closure of a Chinese mission in Houston, India denied working visas to three Chinese journalists working in the country for Chinese state media. The Chinese have described these Indian steps as being in sync with the United States.

Unlike previously, India is no longer squeamish about the Chinese clashes and threats. It is openly talking about these threats in global dialogue and preparing to meet the China offensive with multiple-choice approaches.

To meet rising Chinese threat, India is taking a two-pronged approach.

The first is to augment our defence and strike capabilities to a much higher level with preparedness on the ground and procuring high capacity military hardware.

Secondly, unlike previously, effectively join international coalition of countries having mutuality of interest to pose a joint front to China. This is particularly so in the Indian Ocean region where China is looking to project its military might.

If the first and foremost preparation is to augment the country’s military capabilities, this time India is also going for broke to build a coalition with countries having similarity of interests with India with respect to China.

India is aggressively procuring military hardware from a number of sources, rather than limiting these to only Russia or only a few others. During the latest round of talks with Israel, defence minister Rajnath Singh had mentioned hostilities with China and fast tracked weapons and technology purchases. Significantly, defence minister has invited Israeli defence manufacturing units to get into joint ventures with Indian counterparts for larger volume production of critical hardware.

A range of collaboration between India and Israel is already going on for several years now, particularly in security and intelligence areas. These are always below the radar and understandably always unstated.

Meanwhile in the context of the current escalation of hostilities India has ordered fast-track procurement of a wide range of military items from United States. The latest being orders for some eight Poseidon-81 long range naval aircraft from the United States, fitted with radars, missiles, torpedos and electro-optic sensors. A major effort is now on for building capabilities to parol and meet the Chinese threats in the Indian Ocean where China is seeking entry with its captive port in Gwadar in Pakistan.

India has just invited Australia, a country which China perceives to be one of its fiercest critics, to the annual naval exercises in the Indian Ocean. This year’s “Malabar” exercises will include Australia as a participant, apart from the other traditional participants, namely, United States and Japan. The sheer fact of inviting Australia would irritate China to no end.

Australia was the first to moot an independent international probe into the origins of the corona virus pandemic and accused China of mishandling the break out of the epidemic in its Wuhan province. Subsequently, China had imposed several sanctions on trade with Australia.

In his deposition before the US Senate committee on Foreign Relations, the Deputy Secretary of State Steven Biegun made the comments during a hearing on US policy regarding China that the “Malabar” exercises would be helpful in evolving understanding required for handling China in future.

This is what he said: "India just recently invited Australia to participate in the Malabar exercises, which is now going to allow all four members of the quad to participate in a military exercise together that will be hugely beneficial to reinforcing the behaviours that are going to be necessary for us to defend our mutual interests," Mr Biegun said.

There are other indications that Indian and US navies would work to develop inter-operability further and some resources would be deployed to counter China’s rising assertiveness in the Indian Ocean. A special operation between Indian and US navies are scheduled in the waters close to the Andamans islands as well.

Military deterrence, coalition building among countries in the Indo-Pacific and offering a robust economic alternative are the various components of policies being pursued to meet the Chinese threat. The idea is that once China sees the emerging forces arrayed against its arrogant assertions, there should be enough “incentive” for it to rein in its super nationalistic ambitions. (IPA Service)