India has a superpower on its doorstep. Yet the Indian public, including its elites, understand very little about its neighbour’s politics ...
India has a superpower on its doorstep. Yet the Indian public, including its elites, understand very little about its neighbour’s politics and what drives its policymaking. “Almost nobody in India, including the highly educated elite, would be able to intelligently discuss Chinese politics for more than 10 minutes. But of course, we will all have an opinion on American politics,” said Vijay Gokhale, former foreign secretary of India.
In The Long Game: How the Chinese Negotiate with India, Gokhale who was India’s ambassador to China and has worked on the country for decades, puts together a short compendium of past episodes where New Delhi had to work out complex issues with Beijing. But the key potion of Gokhale’s book is the final chapter, in which he sketches out the Chinese negotiating playbook, arguing that understanding these tactics and diplomatic culture will be crucial for India going forward.
I spoke to Gokhale about how China’s perception of India is radically different compared to New Delhi’s view of its neighbour, why he believes that Beijing has become more sophisticated at influencing Indian voices and what areas young scholars and diplomats need to focus on.
