Thread by @ieexplained

Welcome to an edition of E-xplained with @GBambawale, former Indian Ambassador to China (2017-18) to understand the big regional and global geopolitical picture within which this conflict is situated.

Follow our #thread as we live tweet his conversation with @ShubhajitRoy 👇

Indian and Chinese civilisations are both ancient. But, India looks upon different parts of the world as 'one family'. The Chinese way of thinking is summarized by the word 'China'. Their approach is, they are at the centre and everyone is peripheral, @GBambawale says.

India and China know there is no agreed boundary between us. Broadly, we stay out of each others way. We have in place agreements to maintain peace and tranquility.

It's regrettable that the PLA has thrown into the Galwan river all agreements we had reached, says @GBambawale

All the tenets of the agreements between India and China have been broken by the Chinese, which is why we are in a difficult situation.

They're aggressive, but two can play the game. Indian troops were also aggressive in Galwan, @GBambawale tells @ShubhajitRoy

The Wuhan summit was a new template of talks between India and China. We thought through an informal summit, PM Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping could talk at length. A direct chat would help in forming a new kind of paradigm for relations, @GBambawale says.

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@GBambawale Cut to 2020, China has clearly signalled it is the number one power in Asia. They do not look at India as competition.

Therefore, the message the military has sent on the ground will now have to be sent through policy decisions made by the government, says @GBambawale

@GBambawale It can't be business as usual, as the whole game has change.

I recommend the government take a rationale, calculated decision on how to reset India's China policy. It has to be done quickly, in the next few months, and implemented before the end of the year, says @GBambawale

In a globalised economy, an across the board boycott of Chinese goods may not be possible. We must study where a boycott will hurt some of their companies.

One area is the telecom industry, buying Samsung instead of Xiaomi for example, @GBambawale tells @ShubhajitRoy

On the ground, India will have to fights its own battles. Geo-politically, it is important to build our partnerships with other countries.

Don't expect this stand-off to be resolved soon. It will take time, maybe even months, says @GBambawale

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What next? What can India expect?

@GBambawale says: I believe the disengagement process will take time, months or even years. It is yet to be seen how much further China wants to take the boundary dispute.

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Thank you for joining our E-Xplained webinar with Gautam Bambawale, former Indian Ambassador to China (2017-18). In case you missed it, we will soon share a link where you can watch it.

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