• Source:JND
HighLights
  1. Gokhale details China's pre-emptive 'grey-zone' strategy against India.
  2. China aims to confine India to South Asia, sees it as rival.
  3. China-Pakistan collusion evident, especially during Operation Sindoor.

India-China Ties: Former Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale explained China's strategy against India, asserting that Beijing strategically waits for an opportunity, takes pre-emptive action and then spins a narrative of self-defence. His new book, 'China's Wars: The Politics and Diplomacy Behind Its Military Pressure,' throws light on past conflicts and China's recent ambiguous strategy.

Gokhale, while speaking to ToI, explained why India-China relations have entered an era of "armed coexistence." While a full-scale war isn't the most likely outcome, it can't be ruled out either, he added.

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China Creates 'Grey-Zone' Military Pressure

China is an opportunistic country that, instead of direct war, adopts the policy of waiting for strategic opportunities and creating 'grey-zone' military pressure, he explained, asserting that China's approach to preventive deterrence differs from Western approaches. In the West, deterrence is a retaliatory action aimed at preventing an enemy from advancing or escalating tensions, he added.

China takes pre-emptive action, which means it acts before the enemy makes the first move, Gokhale said, adding that the goal is to deliver a political and psychological blow to the enemy, forcing it to retreat and fear retaliation.

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China Aims To Confine India To South Asia

Gokhale said that China's main objective is to confine India to South Asia, because in this century it has few potential rivals other than the US, and India is one of them.

Meanwhile, barring the 1962 war and the Galwan Valley conflict, China has avoided a direct armed conflict with India. Beijing's approach has been a series of backdoor moves to target India's interests. Last year, during India's conflict with Pakistan, termed as Operation Sindoor, Beijing provided logistical support from the backdoor to Islamabad.

China Backs Pakistan During Operation Sindoor

On China-Pakistan collusivity during Operation Sindoor, former Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan recently revealed that Pakistan's inventory of its platforms today, 70 or 80% is of Chinese origin.

"Whether it is land-based, air platforms, or some naval platforms, we also have an inventory of foreign platforms. And when we get those platforms, the maintenance and serviceability are the responsibility of the OEM, and their representatives are normally in the countries in which this equipment is deployed because they're supposed to keep them serviceable. Chinese OEM people would have been there, and that's what the Chinese have admitted: that their people were there (Pakistan). Today in our country, there would also have been Russian, French, Israeli OEMs. So it is a contractual obligation," he added.

Gen Chauhan Cautions Against Collusion Between Pak, China And Bangladesh

Earlier in July 2025, then Chief of Defence Staff Chauhan said that a possible convergence of interest among China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh may result in serious implications for India’s stability and security dynamics.

“There is a possible convergence of interest we can talk about between China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh that may have implications for India’s stability and security dynamics,” Gen Chauhan said at the event hosted by the Observer Research Foundation.

(With Jagran.com/PTI Inputs)

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