India-China shadow-boxing By San (Andrews), the author of Too Bitter to Swallow!

So that is the situation that Corona has put us into. In fact, it has pushed the whole world into a quandary and all countries of the globe are training their guns at China, supposedly the mother of Corona from whose Wuhan city the virus emerged as if from a womb and wove its web of disaster all over the world. Every Tom, Dick and Harry is in a combat mood and ready to crush China for its dastardly act of spreading the virus deliberately, perhaps, aiming at an international catastrophe of all sorts and consolidation of its superiority in the world market. You can nick-name this as an example of market imperialism which Americans will easily understand. The country read China might have used the World Health Organisation or WHO to foist this fraud on the whole world as Trump and his aides believe. 

The hue and cry for a ban on Chinese goods is only a tip of the iceberg. More such outcries are in the offing.  

The impulsive assault by Chinese and the valiant fightback by Indians at the border between the two countries was an expected reverberation of that massive ruckus across the globe. The United States of America, Russia, France and other EU members, all licking their wounds following the debilitating impact of Corona menace, were quick to rally behind India and issue a threat of dire consequences to China. 

Even if the continuous engagement between the leaders of two countries culminated in a reciprocally viable solution, the embers that had been latent for a long time since 1962 India-China war are live now and might reach a flashpoint at any time. The Corona factor has taken things thus far. 

Whether one likes it or not war clouds are still looming large over Ladakh region, the arena for the bloody confrontation between the two countries. 

Ban on Chinese goods! 

Not surprisingly, 'boycott-Chinese-goods' cry is a natural consequence and it is ringing across the country and the world no end. No signs of relief in the near future unless something decisive happens. Then it should either be a wipe-out or a complete embrace of Chinese goods. Undoubtedly it cannot and will not be so. 

Of course, Modi snobs and Modi detractors with the former in high decibel and the latter in the low key are on a slanging match in print media, electronic media and all sorts of social networking sites.          

Will there be an India-China war? Will Chinese goods be banished forever from India and the world at that? These are the questions that may be confusing many of us! But there is no need for such confusion.

Because pragmatism or practicability is the mantra of survival in modern times. In politics, pragmatism takes the form of diplomacy or tact in your dealings with people and countries and who can beat Modi at that! 

As such I do not think Modi will give heed to the belligerent voice of protest against Chinese goods from his snobs or die-hard supporters who drool over his mere sight. Already to appease them and their initial foul cry he has banned many WhatsApp though that ban has the smell of an eyewash. More such actions are close at hand! 

After all profit and benefits count in business and not emotional outburst that can take you only to bankruptcy. 

According to experts, China has spread its financial tentacles in almost all departments like power, real estate and many others in the form of investments, huge ones at that and if they withdraw them all it is India who is going to suffer since China can find many substitutes even in this 'Coronafied' world where Americans, Russians, Israelis and their aides are at its throat.

How many Chinese houses are filled with Indian devices and gadgets? Virtually none.

Now which household in this country does not boast of devices and gadgets that are not made in China? Even if there are, just open their covers and you will find batteries Made in China stuffed inside in a corner as if that battery does not want to make public its presence. 

Even duplicate batteries that are in vogue may have been made in China, I guess so. 

In that way, Chinese investments have sneaked into every nook and corner of the Indian business world. It may be that at least an ingredient of any product may have been made in China. Even the weapons used in warfare may be having their batteries made in China. That can be a sure possibility if one ventures to conduct a research!

Modi freaks are well aware that almost all leading brands in the cellphone world are made in China, and even other brands like Samsung have their batteries made in China. So as far as business and trade are concerned China, Chinese and Made in China are ubiquitous factors. You just cannot avoid them. You will have to live with them as with Corona. The greatest Chinese attraction is that production is damn cheap in that country as they make use of the labour force as bonded labourers. And that factor makes China invincible even for the US and other so-called military giants.

Still, I will not rule out the possibility of Modi calling for a further boycott of Chinese products for his position in Indian politics is absolutely shaky and wobbly because of his failure on many fronts. To gain back his losing popularity and vote bank, the Prime Minister may succumb to this patriotic cry, though as one great writer, I think it is Victor Hugo, has said patriotism is the last resort of a scoundrel. Whether that move may prove to be suicidal or not only time can tell. 

He was the brain behind the Chinese flourish in the Indian trade arena. If statements of experts are anything to go by it was during Modi's reign that the quantum of trade between the two countries increased by not two but three times! In fact, he has converted this country into not a Banana Republic but a 'CHINANA REPUBLIC'. What about the Chinese contributions towards PM Care Fund?  So if it was Modi who pampered China let him finish off that bonhomie he himself had created due to his pathological desire for a social and political transformation at national and international level! 

All are in the know about his pathological obsessions like demonetisation, cashless transactions etc., etc.. All were great and ambitious obsessions, especially for a country like India where according to World Bank, 28 per cent people live under extreme and not moderate poverty. 

All those dreams fell flat on the nose at the beginning itself!

India-China war!

Then is there any possibility of a war between the two countries? Surely no, that would be my spontaneous response without the least iota of doubt. Which country will dare to go for war when the economic fabric of this world itself has strained due to the secret and diabolic entry of Corona? 

But war-mongers, who have a high sensitivity for any trouble, cannot hold their tongue!

If ever there is a possibility, my take is that it will be a proxy war, proxies being none other than India and China. India and China will be directly crossing swords with the most sophisticated and formidable weapons at their disposal and their supporters or sponsors will be pumping in the required back-up through military, financial and diplomatic help! At the end of the day, the two combatants, especially India will have to incur a heavy cost to the extent of damaging its own fragile economy. China may survive that onslaught by virtue of its economic and military power, consolidated by a blend of policies bordered upon protectionism and liberalism and also by hook or crook. That hook or crook will even pester own citizens to satiate its totalitarian priorities. 

Can The United States of America, Israel and Russia and their European aides afford a war when the number of Covid-19 deaths and Corona-infected patients is sky-rocketing in these countries? How much strain these economies are undergoing because of the pandemic, one cannot even imagine! 

Which countries will rally behind China? One may tend to give a quick reply: no one. But none can predict whom the former Communist country Russia will prefer to support. After all, they are of the same Communist mould though Russia of late has watered its political ideologies in line with the rest of the world. Moreover, there are many other countries sitting on the fence preferring to observe which way the current flows! Realities need not bother them instead racial, regional, religious, ideological, political, economical and many other priorities and considerations may swing their final decision.

In the end, nobody can categorically and surely prophecy who will throw their weight behind whom!

So let us forget about the possibility of a proxy war for the time being! Then it is going to be a full-fledged battle wherein all belonging to the two groups will indulge in an all-out war in different continents of the world as had happened during the Second World War. The Third World War that it can be called will be so ferocious and aggressive without anybody being ready to budge an inch.

The answer to the question of what type of weapons will be used in that no-holds-barred battle is anybody's imagination. Apart from the multi-destructive nuclear weapons, there can be equally devastating new entrants like chemical, biological and even virological weapons (Corona may be one of them). 

What type of weapons are being stockpiled in the armouries of various countries, none can visualise. Americans are not going to disclose their military strength and power to anybody for fear of imitation and replication. Why should Indians list out the formidable challenges that they have to dish out during the time of war? All will spring one or two surprises when it comes to the crunch.

Every country has its own veil of secrecy just as every individual nurtures his own areas of privacy. Democratic countries were in the habit of blasting their Communist counterparts for maintaining an 'Iron Curtain' or secrecy for every aspect of their policies and programmes. So that only the brighter side will be projected or on display and the darker one will be pushed into the background beyond notice. That was how the Cold War era in international relationships between nations started with the Democratic USA and its coterie on one side and Communist USSR and its cohorts on the other. And Russia is a bigger fragment of that disintegrated USSR. Then one can make out that genetic or ideological connect between China and Russia.  

But during this modern era of cut-throat competition and penchant to outsmart each other such principles of transparency and ethics remain only on paper. Communist countries have always been criticised for adopting that good old philosophy of existentialism, coined by Karl Marx: End justifies the means. The end or goal will be achieved at any cost irrespective of the means adopted. Fortunately or unfortunately that has become the way of the world nowadays. So you can expect any sort of surprise inclusion in the weaponry of various countries. 

Exclusivity is the buzzword in every field. Pharmaceutical for that matter 

every manufacturing company runs after exclusive products so that it can outsmart its competitor. Even media is not free from this fetish and pressurises their reporters and correspondents to hunt for something exclusive so that they can overtake their competitors and place themselves on the top. That exclusivity mantra has crept into the Defence scenario too and so every country will ensure that it is in possession of some of the other exclusive rifle or bomb or missile. That may facilitate the furtive entry of the so-called chemical or biological or even virological weapons like Corona. 

God alone knows what China has in its store after Corona!     

Then one is free to assume that the Third World War is likely to be not simply a nuclear war but a poisonous and virulent blend of chemical, biological and even virological warfare that may witness millions turning breathless and suffocating till death and drive home the futility of the most modern medical precautions and curative facilities. We have only heard of the dreadful impact of chemical and biological weapons, now we may witness their terrifying consequences if superpowers are impulsive enough to jump into a senseless war for materialising their racial, ideological, political and a lot more such impulses.

As far as virological weapons like Corona are concerned the lesser said the better as the world is experiencing its terrible and chain-reaction-like impact!

The entry of vaccine! 

Then on a fine morning, if the optimistic news of an anti-Corona or an anti-COVID-19 vaccine descends on the world my wild, grotesque and unfettered imaginations and speculations may turn out to be the senseless jabberings of an over-investigative mind! Efforts for international peace may follow and reach its logical conclusion in the end!

Whatever may be the outcome of those efforts, the world is going to witness a polarised scenario and resurrection of Cold War era; former NATO and Warsaw Treaty Organisation will re-emerge with new names and new constituents. But for sure, one bloc is going to be led by China and Russia will be relegated to the status of an old warhorse. Needless to say, the US will guide the other bloc. 

By San (Andrews), the author of Too Bitter to Swallow