New Delhi could also use its naval command to compel China to behave reasonably, says a paper published by BESA

To counter Beijing’s anti-India designs, New Delhi could use its status as the ‘world’s largest democracy’ to rope powerful democractic states - the US, Canada, France, Japan, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, into a project of isolating China on the diplomatic chessboard.

With the international community already furious over China’s role in the COVID-19 outbreak, India could lead efforts to tackle the global health crisis, and in the process expose China and isolate it internationally, says a paper published by the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA). Moreover, New Delhi could use its naval command to compel China to behave reasonably, it says.

And not to forget India’s growing bonhomie with the United States could be put to ‘good use’. During Trump’s reign, the US-China friction has only risen, and it has hit an all-time high during the pandemic. “Trump claims that China is responsible for the virus, which has paralysed the US economy and resulted in historic levels of unemployment and over 100,000 American deaths,” the paper states.

The US-India relations is growing positively, with the Trump administration’s plans to expand the G-7 to G-11 by adding India. The paper published by BESA points out that the US president even invited Indian prime minister Narendra Modi to attend the G-7 summit which will be held in September this year.