It is a rare occurrence when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) mouthpiece Global Times makes detrimental confessions, but 2020 has been full of surprises and they have also surprised the world. Giving words to the fears of Xi Jinping and his courtiers, they mentioned that India is taking away the throne of the leader of the developing world and thus, dethroning the Chinese from their position, which they thought would be their launching pad for world dominance.
China has for long refrained from calling itself a major power as it will imply upon it many responsibilities, but its aims are far detached from any form of International responsibility, as visible from its actions in the pandemic ridden world. It maintains itself as a developing country to leach all the benefits from the WTO and slowly inject its debt diplomacy in all the vulnerable and willing countries.
The pandemic has shed light on the many organisations which have been compromised by the fact that the deep Chinese pockets were able to buy their members. Be it the World Health Organisation or the World Trade Centre, China had its interests well taken care of, and with the things now in full display to the world, India is rising to the occasion of being the flag bearer of the developing countries and champion their voice as well as save them from the Chinese debt diplomacy by working with the other quad members.
The mouthpiece mentioned that India wants to prevent multilateral mechanisms from becoming a tool for China’s rise as a hegemon or a regional despot. The BRICS and SCO are two forums where China too is a founding member and it tries to use them as a tool to gain influence in the member countries and thus make them its extended arms, however India never lets these designs become a reality and tries to dismantle aspects of them from within.
India has been simultaneously working with the QUAD members to remove Chinese influence from its backwaters in the Indian Ocean Region as well as deepening its collaboration with the other developing countries of the global south to counter the Chinese influence. India is also providing infrastructural and security support to many ASEAN countries. India has initiated the process of offering military weapons and equipment to many countries in an effort to bolster their defenses and deter any coercive action from the Chinese. In line with this, India has also gifted a submarine to the Myanmar as well as signed multiple agreements with Bangladesh to boost its neighbourhood ties.
Read more: QUAD in action: As Japan arms Vietnam, India begins arming Myanmar with deadly submarines.
All this has rattled China, as even after all the intensive dollar investments, China has lost all the influence and space that it had gained, and with India working with its quad partners. New Delhi is ruining the Chinese attempt at becoming the world hegemon. These are the frustrations within the Chinese Communist Party and their ruling elite which is being articulated by the Chinese media itself.
