India has to confront China if necessary: Former army chief

Kolkata, Feb 4 :India not only has to compete with and contain China, but also confront its neighbour if necessary, former Indian Army chief Shankar Roy Chowdhury said here on Sunday.

Speaking on India-China relations on the occasion of a book launch, Gen. Roy Chowdhury (retd.) pointed out: "Geography can't change , and India will have to co-exist with China as a neighbour.

"We have to compete, contain but if necessary we also have to confront China." 

Roy Chowdhury said that India in 2018 is not the same India that it was in 1962, and assured that there was nothing wrong with India militarily.

"At the level of the soldier, the officer, the commander or the field commander, there is no problem. But, I don't know what is happening at the level of higher command or at the political level. But, it was necessary for India to build its economy, an area where China had excelled over India," he said.

He also noted that policy-makers in Delhi had always paid more attention to the western border, and the "east has always been distant from Delhi".

Bu, all these were now changing, Roy Chowdhury said.

He cited the Look East Policy as an instance, but mentioned that it had come in confrontation with the One Belt, One Road project of China.

Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy said China had no intention of invading India and making it a colony, but wants "to keep the pot boiling and keep India on its toes so that India can't devote its entire energy in economic development".

The book "Shadow of the Dragon and Recent Developments" by journalist Amalendu Kundu was released at the programme.

The book, published by Poets Foundation, is divided into three sections: India-China relations, the Gorkhaland agitation in Darjeeling and the situation in Sikkim.

Besides Kundu, the main author, there are contributions from writers from different walks of life.