Is India bending over backwards to please China?
India’s opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has accused the government of a “craven” and “slavish” attitude to China.
The BJP and others argue that the coalition government has failed to prevent repeated Chinese incursions along the disputed border, from Ladakh in the northwest to Arunachal Pradesh in the northeast.
And by trying to muzzle the Dalai Lama and close down Delhi during the Olympic torch relay, it has shown weakness, which will only encourage China to throw its weight around more.
There is also concern about the modernisation of the Chinese army, and the steady improvement of road and rail links in Tibet which are altering the military balance of power. Then there is talk of fresh Chinese claims to the northern tip of Sikkim.
“Given the growing perception that the UPA government lacks resolve… it is no surprise that Beijing has put the historically undisputed border with Sikkim back into contestation,” the Indian Express wrote in an editorial. Bharat Bhushan in the Mail Today said India had bent over backwards to China without any apparent dividend, while Brahma Chellaney argues China is trying to tie India down in the Himalayas “in order to avert the rise of a peer rival in Asia”.
But does India have any choice but quiet diplomacy? Should India swallow its pride and keep China happy over the Tibet question, even put up with a bit of border wrangling, and concentrate on the bigger picture?
Trade ties are booming and India stands to gain from a closer relationship with China, after all.
Another Himalayan kingdom tumbles, but will Nepal miss its monarchy?
Another Himalayan kingdom is falling, a chapter closing on an ancient historical tradition. But will the modern system of democracy do a better job?
Sikkim’s monarchs, the Chogyals, retreated into history when India annexed their territory in 1975. Tibet’s “priest-king”, the Dalai Lama, was forced in exile when China invaded his land in the 1950s.
Now, after 239 years of the Shah dynasty, Nepal is set to become a secular republic on Wednesday .
In the Himalayas, only in Bhutan does a monarchy still play a significant role, and even there it voluntarily surrendered power this year to a new democratically elected parliament.
Many of these kings were once revered as incarnations of Buddha or Vishnu, some still are.
But the Himalayan monarchies have come under pressure from he north and south, from their giant neighbours China and India. Pressure has come from below as well, from subjects demanding democracy on the roof the world. One by one, they are succumbing to that pressure.
The Buddhist majority in Bhutan seemed sad to see their king stand aside and democracy enter their largely peaceful land, fearing that conflict and corruption would surely follow.
what ever peoples says about the recent development and the end of monarch in Nepal, i believe as being the citizen of Nepal that we need monarch as it is the symbol of unity and independent country.
in the history, not all the republic country or democratic country progressed, many failed because of corruption and because of their internal causes and in term of Nepal, as the country itself is in complex position from all angle we need some one who have authority to take action immediately and right was one the monarch who has understood better of the suitation then other.
the former king Gyanendra did some wrong things because of his corrupt advisers and the people who were in touch with them.
anyways, now in the country our king is no more, and we have to see how the new government will lead Nepal and how will be the new Nepal. Hope there will no power struggle and nepal will be a prosperous country…JAI NEPAL
As far as the trade is concerned i personally feel that China will continue its relation the way it is now. When it comes to the border issue the Indian Govt should not step back. This can be solved with diplomats having more talks with the Chinese Govt regarding the border issue.Making the Chinese understand that we are not very pleased with the incursion in the East of Ladakh regions and the demand of areas in Arunachal Pradesh should serve the purpose.