Eddie, Not surprising, considering that the BJP has convinced itself that India is a superpower despite half the population having to use the great outdoors for their biological needs.
India is currently in a hostile standoff with China in the Doklam area of Bhutan. Matters have reached a stage where China is openly threatening to militarily humiliate the Indian Armed Forces. There are two pressures in India exerting themselves against the Chinese and in favour of armed skirmish, including even a short war. One is the Indian Armed Forces. Within, there is poor leadership due to politically motivated out of turn appointments to top positions for two decades or more. Secondly there is a huge gap in officer positions since bright young men unlike previously, no longer desire a career in the Forces. Thirdly the Air Force and the Army are poorly equipped due to bureaucratic bungling in procurement along with corruption in the arms-buying process, a fairly recent phenomenon, both at top positions in commands and in the bureaucracy. After all India is globally one of the biggest arms buyers. This has led to soldiers and pilots having to make do with poor operational equipment. However the top brass see an opportunity in a battle defeat to be able to ride the civilian backlash to push for more spending to rearm in the manner and to the standards that they once took for granted. The other pressure for war comes from the BJP itself. Stung by the accusations of targeting unarmed and docile minorities, they have a strong need to prove themselves by bullying neighbouring countries and showing their strength in armed conflict. Modi himself is a silent rabble rouser but also a practical man. He knows that in China he has met a more than superior adversary and he knows as his recent statements show, that he is very well aware that rabid corruption has eaten away the strength of his country. Once the economy stops performing well, he knows that the rust will show. How far Modi and a few other BJP top guns are able to push back the rabble rousers is to be seen. One can only hope they do. On top of all this there is a political undercurrent of frustration with an inability to engage a violent and unstable Pakistan due to their threat of nuclear 'first strike'. With the Chinese who are infinitely more sensible, they are confident that there will be no nuclear involvement. Therefore at worst, the Indians will face the PLA and in their Hindu Rashtra fervour, they are ready to take on the risk, however huge. Unlike America where the return of body-bags triggers a huge political price for decision makers ending in their rout at the hustings, in India where value for life is far less, patriotism and nationalism is whipped up to add to the general lethargic perception of "So what, that is the risk of joining up. There are more than 1 billion of us anyway". Roland Francis Toronto. > On Aug 10, 2017, at 11:48 AM, BT Yahoo Mail <gdig...@btinternet.com> wrote: > > The passage appears in the Sanskrit textbook "Sukritika Volume-3" in chapter > eight, which is about the achievements of the country's first prime minister > Jawaharlal Nehru."What famously came to be known as Sino-India war of 1962 > was won by India against China," the book says according to the report. "
