To fight with China, India needs to strengthen its economic, diplomatic, political and military capabilities

The recent border tension between India and China can only be solved when India will reduce the power asymmetry with its neighbor and commands from a position of strength.

According to an article published by The New Indian Express, this power asymmetry exists across four areas—economic, diplomatic, political and military.

Talking about economic strength to respond more effectively to any such future threats, the article argues that India needs to “build its economic clout through better business planning”.

To match China in pricing and quality in the global market, the article says, India needs to move to mass production by big companies, says the article by Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) Amar Patnaik and Business and Strategy Consultant Jayanta Kumar Mohanty

The New Indian Express article also argues that skilling of workers, low cost electricity to industry, building better roads, rails, ports and airports to reduce transportation costs, and changing labour laws, are key to achieve such economic strength.

For diplomatic strength, it says that Indian diplomats need to develop business skills to “achieve both strategic and business goals from the relations with the countries they are stationed in.”

According to the article, India already has the political strength because of its democracy which always helps it in its engagement with other large and powerful democratic countries. However, it says we need to make our democracy more “mature, erudite and less raucous”

On military partnership, the article argues that along with indigenous capabilities, India needs more engagement with advanced defence powers like the US, Russia, France, the UK, Israel, Japan, and most of the China-wary countries in the Indo-Pacific region such as South Korea, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Taiwan and the Philippines.