Understanding the India China Border by Manoj Joshi (Book Review)

 🇮🇳 For many years, India and China have been at conflict. India is at a crucial moment in its history, stuck between Pakistan on the west and China on the east, where it is in competing directly with China throughout every facet.

🇮🇳 On the one hand, where China has already become a superpower on the verge of dethroning the United States as a world power, India is also on the upswing, and the world is focusing on India presently for a variety of (favourable) factors.

🇮🇳 But why do two nations that were originally established within months of each other in 1949 and 1950 have an undefined border?

🇮🇳 China has always been a national security state, believing that it had to deal with national security issues first of all and above all else, whereas India's primary goals have always been democracy and advancement, and the country only decided to concentrate on national defense in the 1980s. China believes it must reestablish its conventional barriers in the region, which were established by the Qing Empire. In contrast, India claims the boundaries established by the British (colonial) Raj. One of the big concerns for India in attempting to deal with China has been that China has long stopped seeing India as an equal. In the longterm, India, with its stronger economic and military power, was outsmarted by China.

🇮🇳 In this book, author Manoj Joshi not just explains the current scenario but also takes us deep into the history of India-China border issues & conflicts. He talks about all the blunders that India made back in the day while dealing with China, majorly because of a Nehruvian ideology. He also explains what the future looks like for both the civilizational states. If you want to read just one book about the India-China border issues, then make it this book.

🇮🇳 Today, China's economy is five times that of India, and it likes to spend three times as much on defence. In his book 'Understanding the India-China Border,' author Manoj Joshi (who has spent many years researching and documenting on India-China border disputes) utilises the 2020 Galwan River Valley discord between both the neighbours to clarify whatever this border issue really is, and to summarise the entire issue in only one line, China's motive is to push the LAC westwards, towards Indian regions. It's no secret that India is building a road that will link up the borders with the flatlands, allowing India to more effeciently confront China, which evidently China is not interested in. China has well-connected roads to its border areas, but it does not expect India to follow suit.

🇮🇳 Manoj Joshi, the author of this book, takes us far back into the past of India-China border tensions and clashes in addition to explaining the present situation. He discusses all the mistakes India made over the years while coping with China, many of which were caused by Nehruvian philosophy. He further describes what these geostrategic nations' futures hold. Consider this novel your primary choice to discover about the boundary disputes between China and India.