Playing checkers with China

When it came to China, my mother, an Army wife, used to tell her son, a General, “With Pakistan India is cocky but when it comes to China it becomes a mouse.” That was some 10 years ago. Last week, at Bali, during the East Asia Summit, we were told by Indian officials accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that he acted tough by rejecting China’s objections to India’s presence in South China Sea and told Premier Wen Jiabao that our interests were “purely commercial”. Equally firmly, Mr Wen warned ‘outside forces’ from getting embroiled in disputes in South China Sea. The warning was repeated on Monday. Will New Delhi back down? Let’s see.

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