Letters to the Editor: Indo-China Camaraderie

Indo-China camaraderie

Referring to the news ‘Reform, perform and transform: Modi highlights India’s new mantra’ published on the 2nd of August in your esteemed daily, wherein the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the nation emphasise the notion of security, connectivity and opportunity, it is underscored how the economically beleaguered Asian nations, affected by US tariff hikes, are now determined to seek an alternative path to torpedo the barrier of the Western bloc, which has been impeding them from speaking and acting in one voice, avowing the fact that economic pragmatism sometimes demands cooperation even among adversaries. At a stage when India is prodigiously dependent on Chinese inputs from electronic components to raw materials like Rare Earth Elements (REE) for industrial ventures manufacturing electronic vehicles and China on the Indian market for shrinking US and other Asian space for its finished goods, such a stride to build an economic camaraderie between the two Asian giants is not an act out of serendipity but a realisation of the truth that growth ambitions cannot be held hostage to diplomatic spats and for messaging Washington that New Delhi has other doors to knock on if the cost of the American friendship outweighs its benefits.

But the verisimilitude of the idea of a geopolitical equilibrium depends on the abnegation of egos between the nations and mutual trust among them to arrive at a common agreeable platform so that conditions for a better dwelling of trade relationships are satiated and a requisite amount of capacity to absorb the intended intensified trade catastrophe wedged by powerful nations can be developed. At the same time, it should be remembered that India's high dependence on China's critical minerals already gives Beijing an outsize control over the supply chain, and looking at the pugnacious history of the two nations, from the Sino-Indian War of 1962 to China's embracing Pakistan, it would be expedient for India to remain slightly prudent on every move of the Red Dragon.

Kabir Ahmed Saikia

Rajabari, Jorhat

TB detection

The news coming from Tezpur University is truly inspiring and fills us with immense pride. A group of researchers from the Department of Physics has successfully developed an innovative machine that will help doctors in the quick and precise detection of tuberculosis, a disease that continues to be one of the most pressing health challenges in our country. This invention is expected to play a decisive role in strengthening the nationwide movement towards making India free from tuberculosis. The breakthrough is especially valuable because it will extend medical support to patients living in far-flung and difficult-to-reach areas, where access to advanced healthcare facilities is limited. By ensuring early diagnosis and timely treatment, this machine has the potential to save countless lives and reduce the suffering of those who remain vulnerable to the disease. The team behind this remarkable success includes Dr Pabitra Nath along with five other assistant professors. Their collective effort, scientific skill, and sense of social responsibility have resulted in a milestone achievement that brings honour not only to Tezpur University but also to Assam and the nation as a whole. Each member of this team truly deserves heartfelt appreciation and recognition for contributing something of such immense value to both science and society.

Dipen Gogoi,

Teok, Jorhat

 IMD erred

IMD (Indian Meteorological Department) is a department which forecasts weather for the benefit of common people. Accordingly, on 27th August they issued a warning of heavy to very heavy rain in and around Guwahati on 28th August, as on that very day Union Home Minister Amit Shah was scheduled to have a hectic day in Guwahati, which sent the alarm bell ringing in the state BJP camp.

Along with the state BJP, the residents of Anil Nagar, Nabin Nagar, and Rukmini Nagar were in fact waiting with their fingers crossed, expecting yet another deluge. Interestingly and fortunately, on 28th August not a drop of rain fell in and around Guwahati, bringing much-needed relief to the state BJP as Amit Shah completed his official schedule of inaugurating the newly constructed RAJ BHAWAN and also addressed a huge BJP rally at Khanapara Veterinary Ground. The residents of the above-mentioned too heaved a sigh of relief, which once again proves that all is well that ends well.

IMD erred for the benefit of all.

Dr Ashim Chowdhury,

Guwahati. 

Much-needed Modi-Xi meet

The recent historic visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to China after a gap of over seven years assumed greater significance in view of a sudden downturn in the India-US ties, triggered by Washington's latest policies on trade and tariffs. It is well-known that both the countries can gain a lot if there is complete peace and tranquillity in the border areas and cooperation between India and China and their 2.8 million people, especially in trade, based on mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity, which is utmost necessary for the growth and development of two countries. The newfound bonhomie between the two leaders, who expressed belief that there is a need to expand common ground on bilateral, regional and global issues and challenges like terrorism and fair trade, has to be a stratum of authenticity, or else it would prove as ephemeral as in the past. The New Delhi need to  remain vigilant about the actual mood in Beijing as the relationship between the two nations had remained as frozen as a Himalayan glacier since the unsavoury incident at Galwan. Therefore, the renewed efforts from Modi and Xi Jinping must not be viewed as an arrangement of necessity born of a harsh US tariff regime but as the attainment of a rational requirement for the advancement of both India and China. Let us hope that India and China's renewed efforts to sweeten relations will herald a new world order in the near future.

Iqbal Saikia,

Guwahati.

DKS’ chances

Expelled Karnataka BJP leader and legislator Basangouda Patil Yatnal has dropped a bombshell by claiming that there was a failed attempt by DK Shivakumar (DKS), the deputy chief minister of the state Congress government, to form a new government and become the chief minister by joining hands with the BJP.According to Yatnal, the move came a cropper as the BJP high command learnt that DKS could hardly muster the support of a handful of legislators.

When Siddaramaiah was picked to lead the government in Karnataka, whether a rotational formula was agreed upon to make DKS chief minister after 2 1/2 years was kept under wraps.

It is an open secret that DKS' political ambitions cannot wait. The rendition of the RSS prayer song in the assembly, cosying up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the latter's Bengaluru visit and profusely reciting shlokas from the Bhagavad Gita at the Sri Krishna Matha function in Udupi must all be seen against this backdrop. That said, those who have observed DKS over the years vouch for his newfound dynamism in his latest role as a minister holding various key departments and being the minister in charge of urban Bengaluru DKS, and they say that he deserves a chance at the very top.

Dr Ganapathi Bhat,

(gbhat13@gmail.com)