This book, about a militarily risen China scaling new political heights through geo-economics, implores India to catch up by recalling some home truths. India will lose a war with China; not win one against Pakistan; and can deter neither. Further, the prospect of a two-front war, recently revived by Army chief Gen
Bipin Rawat, is suicidal. With both adversaries, who are thick as thieves, India has border disputes. For this unfortunate inheritance, we have to thank not just the British but also the political class which has never grasped the utility of military power, without excusing the military leadership. Dragon on Our Doorstep, a meticulously argued book, recommends Managing China Through Military Power. In hindsight, India’s obsession with Pakistan resulted in our missing the bus on settling the border with China on a package deal of status quo twice—1960 and 1980—and compounding the strategic folly by operational and infrastructural...
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