London, UK - 30 July 2007, 22:58 GMT

Dear ATCA Colleagues

[Please note that the views presented by individual contributors are not necessarily representative of the views of ATCA, which is neutral. ATCA conducts collective Socratic dialogue on global opportunities and threats.]

We are grateful to Dr Harsh Pant for his submission to ATCA, "India's Interests at Stake in Relationship with China."

Dr Harsh V Pant teaches at King's College London in the Department of Defence Studies. He is also an Associate with the King's Centre for Science and Security and lectures at the UK Defence Academy. He joined King's after finishing his doctorate at the University of Notre Dame (USA). He holds a BA (Hons) from the University of Delhi and MA and M Phil degrees from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi (India). His current research is focused on Asia-Pacific security and defence issues. He has been published on these issues by a number of academic journals and other publications across the world including the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Journal, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Asia-Pacific Review, Asian Survey, Armed Forces and Society, Middle East Quarterly, Strategic Analysis etc. He is also involved in consultancy work with organisations such as Oxford Analytica, Power and Interest News Report, and South Asia Strategic Stability Unit. He writes:

Dear DK and Colleagues

Re: India's Interests at Stake in Relationship with China

As India embarks on redefining its foreign policy priorities to match its growing weight in the international system, it has become imperative for Indian policymakers to learn from the country's past in order to frame appropriate policies for the future. The Central Intelligence Agency recently declassified its decades-old documents, referred to as the "family jewels," which included the CIA's own assessment of the reasons behind India's debacle in the 1962 Sino-Indian war. While the documents do not reveal any major new insight into the events, they reinforce some of the issues that India should not ignore.

[CONTINUES] [ATCA Membership]

Yet, contrary to what many in India might think, China is not a malevolent, sinister international entity out there to demolish India, but a state which is simply pursuing its own strategic interests in a hard-headed fashion on its way to great power status. It is time for India to realize that India's great power aspirations cannot be realized without a similar cold-blooded realistic assessment of its own strategic interests in an anarchic international system where there are no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests.

Best wishes


Harsh