A detailed account of String of Pearls, Belt and Road Initiative, Kra Canal Project and everything else China is doing to bring back its own version of colonialism.
COVID-19 has put China’s credibility and status as the world’s factory on the line. Current geopolitical changes can be an opportunity for India to perhaps become the world’s new factory. But are we fully prepared for this?
Instead of being at the receiving end of China’s increasingly high handed foreign policy, countries can come together and form international alliances like the ‘Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China’ to effectively counter its rising hegemony.
China is increasing its global influence through a set of measures including debt-trap diplomacy. It has come a long way as a model for high speed development, but its rising power and influence aren’t on the lines of a responsible global power. Instead, its partnerships with smaller nations are nothing less than a dance with the dragon.
As consumers we need to be aware of the apps and online platforms we use everyday and make an effort to understand as to which ones are Indian and which ones look Indian, but are Made in China.
Our consumer behaviour as Indians is largely devoted to getting the maximum bang for our buck. But, if our greed to procure that latest mobile phone with the last camera at a huge discount, comes with a threat to our nation’s security, then I think it’s time we evaluated our consumer behaviour as a whole.
