Harsh V Pant

Unless the world's major democracies don't come together in managing China, all of them will lose the larger ideational battle.

While critics in India argue that India had ignored Iran under US pressure, it is the other way round. It is Tehran that has ignored New Delhi and tried to actively derail Indo-Iranian ties by interfering in Indian domestic matters.

The global landscape, which till a few months back looked benign for China, has now turned against the Middle Kingdom in a manner that Chinese policymakers can ill afford to ignore.

The RIC platform has today become a talk shop in many ways where generic discussions on global issues have become the norm.

The decision to go ahead with the virtual summit is an important signal that both nations don’t want the present momentum in the bilateral relationship to get disrupted.

At a time when China is facing global indignation over its mismanagement of initial stages of coronavirus, tightening screws on Hong Kong gives Xi Jinping a nationalistic boost.

India will have to accept that despite its history with the Taliban and continuing concerns, it will need a proactive engagement policy for durable peace.

PM Modi has been convinced that though the domestic Covid-19 situation would be a priority, India will have to make a case for global engagement and coordination.

For all the socio-economic toll on humanity that the Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked, it has exposed the Chinese Communist Party in ways that wasn’t happening before.

The expectations are so low from Washington that even America's closest allies are not coordinating their responses with it.