Clashes have emerged between India & China since the Galway Valley incident last year. Both the leaders are communicating through their moves. However tiny & unnoticeable these moves are, it all accumulates to build the Big Picture.

The fact that Xi Jinping is being compared to Mao Zedong because of his Expansionist Policies, New Delhi is more alert than ever before. While the World was battling COVID-19, Xi Jinping tried his hands in & around its neighbourhood. With New Delhi, Beijing is trying to communicate a list of things, which does not go in sync with India’s rise.

Xi Jinping, the Commander of the Chinese Armed Forces, placed PLA at LAC. Mr. Modi replied by slapping multiple bans on Chinese Companies, targeting China’s heartline (Economy). It was a clear message from New Delhi that ‘if you think border issues won’t hamper other relations, you need to re-assess your strategy’.

Even though Indian Defense Minister & Minister of External Affairs met their counterparts at the SCO Minister’s meet, there has not been any significant step taken to return to pre-April 2020 Status Quo. This signifies that Beijing is ready to bear the costs for deploying large armed forces at the LAC. At the end of the day, it is still 5x bigger an Economy than India. So, Mr. Modi will be the one who will need an immediate resolution to de escalate.

$ 63.75 billion was allocated to Defense Budget by India in 2021-2022. Chinese state-controlled media has taken a dig at India’s Defence Budget allocation, saying it’s an illusion that India can improve military capability with a “small increase” in the budget for defence. The Chinese Government’s mouthpiece, Global Times, has also said that if India continues to spend on the military, despite its economy facing major contraction, it could be dangerous for the country.

The Global Times report said India’s economy has been “heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to a modest increase of the defence budget”. “If India insists on blindly satisfying its vanity on the military when its economy cannot afford it, this will affect its economic reforms and lead to a vicious circle,” the Global Times report says. According to a Bloomberg report, India’s defence expenditure is about one-quarter of China’s. In May 2020, Beijing had announced a yearly defence budget of $178.6 billion.

Beijing is communicating 3 things pretty straight. First, India should avoid formalising QUAD with USA. Second, India should not expand its influence because there can only be one big brother of the region. Third, and the most important, India should not even try to take on China because she understands Indian Politics. China can infiltrate its propaganda in a polarised society, which is trying to balance itself between Right-Wing & Nationalism.

New Delhi, on the other hand, is responding in a calculated manner. It knows that to ring bells of caution in the Chinese Politburo, it has to target its Economy. India has been pro-active in the field of Vaccine Diplomacy, giving China a hard time across the Globe with its ‘Made in India’ Vaccines. New Delhi is still adamant on the belief that two of the oldest civilizations can become modern states simultaneously, if it handles its relations maturely through Diplomacy.

Expect this ideological tussle to hang around for some years, if not decades. No one is going to loosen the grip until either Xi Jinping or Mr. Modi blinks an eye.