India's Home Minister Interview on Threat from China

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Strategic Affairs - newsgate POLITICAL MAGAZINE
From Patel to Rathore:
Need for an New Iron Man
With changing global socio-politico structure, the impact
will be felt within Indian borders. To tackle such sensitive
internal security issues, including Kashmir, India’s Home
Minister has a plan.
By Malini Basu
A nation with over a billion people, especially when it is
the largest democracy in this world, has a lot to worry
about , poverty, corruption, inflation , and more
importantly the burning issue of its internal security .
India is currently finding itself in tricky waters.
Relations with Nepal are becoming hostile, owing to the
unrest in with the Chinese communist party close
alliance with the Nepalese Communist party. The island
country of Maldives too, is reeling under the pressures
of its internal insurgency movements and the recent
change of guard with an anti-Indian president taking
oath. India and Sri Lanka ties have always been
strained on account of the alleged atrocities and war
crimes committed on the Tamil population in the latter.
The troubled country of Bangladesh too is a major
source of concern owing to the unrest in the Indo-
Bangladesh border and the growing and worrisome
instances of illegal and dangerous immigrations
happening from there. China, the current Asian
superpower, has always been a shaky neighbor for India
and with the reports of regular cross fires and heavy
buildups of armies on its borders; the tensions are only
at an all-time high. But, none of these tensions could
compare to the ongoing soreness in relations between
India and Pakistan, the country which was once it’s part
and now is allegedly responsible for almost all of the
terror attacks that have happened here. With borders
flaring up, it was not long before internal disturbances
were created. And this brings the Indian Home Ministry
into action.
The Minister of Home Affairs, or the Home Minister, as
he is popularly called, holds the responsibility of
maintaining India’s internal
security. The position is second
in seniority only to the
country’s Prime Minister. Since
India’s independence in 1947,
the position has been held by
many illustrious men like
Sardar Vallabbhai Patel , one
of the foremost figures in
India’s struggle for
independence and the man
single handedly responsible for
guiding the integration of a
largely fragmented country into
one united and independent nation. He was one of the
strong reasons in the political integration of India, by

convincing various Princely states (over 560), by
negotiation or pressure to join the Indian union. He also
had an apocalyptic vision about China’s threat to India,
which was expressed in one of his last letter to the
Prime Minister then. Regarded as the most successful
Home Minister till date, not all his followers have
followed his example.
A Home Minister, who had to resign after a huge uproar
that followed the tragic terrorist attack in Mumbai, is
severely criticized for his poor management of the
ministry, his tenure seeing a slew of terror attacks all
over the country, a total failure of intelligence agencies
in terms of gathering leads and proactively preventing
these attacks, a series of incidents involving communal
violence and his general tendency to make extremely
inappropriate comparisons.
In wake of India’s current situation with all its
neighboring countries, the Home Minister’s position
becomes all the more critical. Clearly, India needs a
person who can stand up to this uncommon challenge ,
a person who can look past all the obvious dangers and
issues and discover the intricacies of them , a person
who can , to put it in very simplistic words , “save
India”. Is Agastya Rathore then, that person?
A descendant from one of India’s ancient royal clans,
Rathore is all of 45 , the “youngest” home minister the
country has ever seen . Blue eyed and with his thick jet
black hair, combed back to reveal his large forehead ,
Rathore studied in Cambridge with the current Prime
Minister. Dressed in a traditional grey kurta and jeans ,
he has a smile so cheerful , one could almost be fooled
to doubt his capability to hold such an important
responsibility ; but the smile , one soon realizes is an
extension to his confidence.
“Kashmir has always been a part of India and will
always be and Kashmiri youth are no different from the
youth in Delhi or Mumbai or Hyderabad.”, he says with
confidence when asked about the increasing alienation
of the state’s youth. But probe him into the more
murkier details of the situation of the state - once called,
“heaven on earth”, but now ravaged by the long standing
conflict – and his face draws itself into a mask of
calculation.
“The terrorist groups are a major concern no doubt.”, he
responds after a brief pause .”But they are still human
beings, not invincible by any means. We are in process
of expanding our intelligence networks to monitor more
finer details of their workings. And these finer details are
nonviolence measure, something we have not tried
before” He refuses to divulge more information on the
“finer details”. But since the groundwork is already in
place, the conversation soon veers towards the more
obvious issue, the possibility of a conflict with Pakistan,
following multiple ceasefire violations in the recent past
and reports of infiltration. The current situation in
Kashmir is touted to be the calm before a storm. Nine
ceasefire violations have been reported in just two
weeks’ time and reports of a military buildup in multiple

areas have been making rounds daily. These might just
be the signs of a fifth Indo-Pak war.
“Ceasefire violations have been reported, but what you
fail to mention is that the last one was almost 3 days
back. Our talks with Pakistan’s Home ministry are on in
full swing. We are working on ensuring that the
ceasefire agreements are honored. War is never a
solution and Pakistan government understands it too.
And if they don’t understand , then I can assure you ,
our armed forces are well equipped and well alert to
fight against any forces that will try to destabilize the
country’s security and peace” , he responds , slightly
smiling and yet the steeliness in his eyes unmistakable .
Does that mean, that a war could be on the cards after
all? “Like a said before, war is never a solution. Our
focus is on reaching an understanding to diffuse all the
tensions. We are in the midst of the process and are
already making considerable progress. “, he responds,
no longer smiling, his eyes unblinking for most part, the
steeliness in them every bit as persistent as it was
before.
When asked about China’s “String of pearls” strategy
and all the threats it poses to India though alongside
China’s opinion that India has no complete power over
the Indian Ocean, some of the steeliness seems to
dissolve, as his face takes on a pensive look.
“String of pearls, the name is unnaturally funny for
something so serious, don’t you think so?”, he says
almost abruptly and smiles , but only for a few seconds.
“China’s influence in the Indian Ocean is worrying on
some grounds. There have been reports that the bases
may be equipped with military capabilities, even as
China has consistently denied the same. Keeping this in
mind , we need to be fully aware of the proceedings and
need to be equipped and flexible to meet any
emergencies. The Indian Navy is already moving in this
direction. In addition, we are also looking forward to
beginning to open a channel of communication with the
U.S. government on this issue.”
Sea Threat:
 Pakistan: Gwadar port
 Sri Lanka: Hambantota and Colombo
 Bangladesh: container shipping facility in Chittagong
 Burma: Deepwater port in Sittwe and Kyaukpyu, and
new supply facilities
 Vietnam: Airstrip on one of the islands in Paracel
archipelago
Land Threat:
 PoK: Chinese army bases in Kashmir
 More troop presence across border in Ladakh and north
eastern India

And what does he have to say about the all the other
issues plaguing the country – Naxalite movements,
frequent terrorist attacks , illegal immigrations leading
to drugs and arms trafficking – almost every single one
of them already claiming hundreds of lives every years.
How does he plan on handling this menace which is
already creating fear in the minds of the Indian citizens,
who are increasingly beginning to get disillusioned by
the ruling government. “Naxalism is an issue, but I
think media and international media in particular needs
to understand how and why it came into existence. I
think we need to completely transform our approach in
dealing with these issues. A plan of action is being laid
out to take the Naxal leaders into confidence and
understand their demands. I know this sounds like a
very farfetched idea and many will seriously doubt the
usefulness of such talks, but, let me assure you that the
government understands and is aware of the roots of
these movements. Naxalism is an output of oppression
and it is this root cause that we want to rectify. And as
far as the terrorist attacks are concerned, I have already
told you how we plan on counteracting and preventing
them from happening again.”
Rathore may just be the man who can get India out of
the worrisome situation she finds herself in. From his
clear understanding of the issues, to the mature and
well-rounded insight he possesses on them and their
causes, he clearly knows the gravity of everything that
he is expected to do. And there are no doubts that he is
well prepared to do just that. At a time when Indian
citizens need not just a capable Home Minister, but a
role model of sorts, someone they can look up to,
Rathore may just prove to be the man who can be that
role model.

India's Home Minister Interview on Threat from China

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India's Home Minister Interview on Threat from China