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Letters

When I once asked my father why in chess a grandmaster always concedes defeat, he explained that only a fool plays till he is checkmated. Likewise, all nuclear powers acknowledge that meddling in a territorial conflict between two members of their club, China and India, is equally useless.
Your report, “How Putin’s Russia could help China and India get along” (January 9) describes something that looks like a wild goose chase. Fortunately, this time that’s exactly the case as an endless bad peace interrupted by skirmishes is better than a short good nuclear war resulting in a radioactive desert.
Besides, once we in Russia, like India now, entertained little hope of an improvement in relations with China but things have changed drastically since.
Mergen Mongush, Moscow


China and India: a bad peace is better than nuclear war

An Indian army convoy, carrying reinforcements and supplies, travels towards Leh through Zoji La, a high mountain pass bordering China, on June 13, 2021. Photo: TNS  

Three things wrong with the pledge by nuclear powers to never use their weapons

As India aligns itself with the West, is it entering a cold war with China?

Comment

Julian Spencer-Churchill

The US Air Force conducts an unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile test launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base, in California on October 2, 2019. Photo: AP

The US Air Force conducts an unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile test launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base, in California on October 2, 2019. America’s arsenal of more than 400 Minuteman-III silo-deployed intercontinental missiles is a dramatic demonstration of US power. Photo: AP

Two armed US-made F-16V fighters fly over an air force base in Chiayi, southern Taiwan, on January 5. A scenario of the US providing nuclear weapons to those in its sphere of influence, like Taiwan for example, would be highly disruptive. Photo: AFP

The US, Russia, China, France and the UK took a stand against the spread of nuclear weapons and their use in war, yet their pledge, as it stands, actually weakens the effectiveness of nuclear stockpiles in preventing conventional combat from breaking out.


Defence

Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles

United Nations

Nato

Richard Heydarian

Lloyd Austin, US secretary of defence, and Rajnath Singh, Indian defense minister, share a light moment at a joint news conference in New Delhi, on March 20. Photo: Bloomberg 

After decades of uneasy peace, China has stepped up its territorial claims, while India has abandoned non-alignment in favour of robust ties with the West. An uptick in patriotic populism in China and India has also increased the appetite for territorial assertiveness.


Narendra Modi

China-India border dispute

China-India relations

Diplomacy

Xi Jinping

South China Sea


Right now, India entertains little hope of improving relations with China. But remember, Russia-China relations were tense for a long time too



China-Russia relations

LettersChina and India: a bad peace is better than nuclear war