Gaming the dragon
India needs a sophisticated China playbook
SCO defence ministers' meet showcased the Pakistan-China nexus, which mainly focused on undermining India's stand on terrorism. The proposed joint statement was opposed by India after it was found that Pakistan, with China's complicity, was blocking mention of the Pahalgam terror attack but was pushing for inclusion of 'terrorist activities' in Balochistan and the situation in Kashmir. This would have been shocking were it not part of a well-established tactic.
But, as familiar as it is, it should certainly inform the ongoing thaw in New Delhi-Beijing ties. Apart from aiding its 'iron brother' Pakistan, China itself remains a sophisticated strategic challenge for India. Therefore, utmost caution must be maintained in all dealings with Beijing. China's United Front strategy means that any lever of the Chinese state – including private companies – can be leveraged by Beijing to further its strategic interests. Case in point, three massive tunnel boring machines for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor remain held up at a Chinese port awaiting clearance. They were supposed to start arriving last Oct. Similarly, China is easing its urea export ban, but not for India.
India needs two approaches here. It must power on with building indigenous supply chains and tech in critical sectors to reduce dependence on China. The PLI scheme for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients has shown some results. It needs more backing. In the same vein, China's monopoly on rare earth permanent magnet motors can be tackled through development of microelectronics. For R&D collaborations, we can reach out to Taiwan. Second, given the current geopolitical play, it's vital to conclude the trade deal with US. This is now a strategic imperative. India needs options today. And the trade deal with US will provide New Delhi with good leverage vis-à-vis Beijing. It's time to play smart.
Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
Taiwan looks to new sea-drone tech to repel China
SUAO, Taiwan—Taiwan is accelerating efforts to develop a high-tech fleet of naval drones that military planners see as a potential game-changer in the island's ability to fend off a possible Chinese invasion. Drones are transforming warfare and spurring military strategists to rethink long-held assumptions about defense. Both Ukraine and Israel have used drones to devastating effect in recent weeks. For Taiwan, Ukraine's success in using sea drones to erode Russia's naval superiority in the Black Sea offers the possibility that the weapons could be used to establish supremacy over the Taiwan Strait and hold off an amphibious attack by China. Taiwan plans to begin to introduce sea drones to its naval forces this year, Defense Minister Wellington Koo told The Wall Street Journal in a recent interview, part of preparations for what it sees as a potential invasion by China as soon as 2027. Ukraine's example 'could be adapted to the advantage of Taiwan to prevent amphibious ships, other ships, from actually attacking Taiwan," said retired Adm. Dennis Blair, a former head of the U.S. Pacific Command. 'Even if those opposing forces have much more air power, more missiles, a smaller country with imaginative tactics and with the kinds of new systems that are available can stop them cold," Blair said. Taiwan could use sea drones lying in ambush along shipping routes as an effective deterrent, said Chen Po-hung, a drone expert and board member of the nongovernment group TTRDA, which focuses on security issues. Taiwan's new emphasis on sea drones is part of a defense strategy that aims to show Beijing that an invasion would be too costly to undertake. Beijing hasn't ruled out the use of force to seize the self-ruled island, which it considers to be part of its territory. On Taiwan's northeastern seacoast, a dozen local and U.S. companies showed off cutting-edge technology last week at a sea-drone exhibition that brought life to that goal—and the substantial hurdles to achieving it. Displays included U.S.-based Ocean Aero's autonomous surface vessel that transforms into a submarine and an artificial-intelligence-powered targeting system from the company Auterion, designed to deploy swarms of drones, that has been used in Ukraine's fight against Russia. In nearby waters, three Taiwan-built drones performed, rapidly accelerating and zigzagging to avoid imagined attacks, their maneuvers displayed on a large screen in the exhibit hall. 'Taiwan could do a tremendous amount of damage" with a mix of drones that can attack, surveil and operate underwater, said Stacie Pettyjohn, a senior fellow and director of the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security. 'Swarms of these drone boats coming out would be very effective at making it incredibly challenging to conduct an amphibious assault, especially given Taiwan's geography where there are only a handful of beaches that are really conducive to such an operation," Pettyjohn said. Sea drones are more than 'just filling them with explosives and having them crash into either a ship or maritime infrastructure," said Scott Savitz, a senior engineer at Rand Corp. Other uses, as seen in mine-clearing developed by the U.S. Navy or Israeli port defense, are also relevant for Taiwan. Taiwan is working to gain the capability to build large numbers of sea drones and acquire advanced systems to make them effective, an effort also under way in the island's development of unmanned aerial vehicles. Taiwan has found it difficult to build a domestic aerial drone industry that doesn't depend on Chinese parts. For sea drones, the primary challenge of building a domestic industry is cost on an island with a relatively small market. Planners aim to kick-start local industry with government funding and contracts, with the U.S. providing expertise to bridge technological gaps. The host of the Suao exhibition, the chief of Taiwan's military research and development institute, told exhibitors that future military spending would provide for a 'massive" procurement of sea drones, provided the equipment makes the grade. 'I'm hoping that with everyone's input today, we can make the most out of the budget and use it as effectively as possible," said the official, Lee Shih-chiang, head of the military R&D arm, the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology. NCSIST signed an agreement at the drone expo with Auterion, a company based in the U.S. and Germany, which will provide its drone operating system and its AI-powered drone-swarming platform to Taiwan for a new generation of unmanned vehicles in the air, sea and on land, said the company. Auterion agreed in a separate deal Thursday to provide the AI targeting system to Taiwan manufacturer Thunder Tiger, whose products include first-person-view aerial suicide drones that it hopes to sell in large numbers to the Taiwan military. 'If you have thousands of drones—which is the hellscape concept that the U.S. Navy has put out to defend Taiwan—you can't have 50 different interfaces. You have to have some commonality," Auterion Chief Executive Lorenz Meier said last week. 'Otherwise, scale won't be operations at scale but chaos." Some experts say the buzz around sea drones might be overly optimistic, and not only because of the expense. Ukraine's experience in the Black Sea might not translate directly to the choppy waters of the Taiwan Strait, said Lee Chung-chih, a former drone executive now with Taiwanese think tank DIMEs. 'We can't just jump on the bandwagon because something is trending" and assume drones can replace warships, Lee said. 'That's wishful thinking." Taiwan's shipbuilding know-how is a good starting point for making drone boats, but it still needs the right payload tech to turn them into real military assets—and that is where the U.S. could step in to help, said Chen, the drone expert. Collaborating with the Taiwan military presents a risk for American companies, as it could jeopardize their access to China, a challenge Taiwan has faced in its effort to build an aerial-drone industry that doesn't require Chinese parts. Even so, representatives from the U.S. firms at the expo in Suao said they were undaunted. 'I'm especially grateful to the five foreign companies who made the effort to join us today," Lee, the NCSIST head, said. 'I believe it won't be long before the Chinese government sanctions all of you. But, don't be afraid: You've chosen to stand with the camp of freedom and democracy." Write to Joyu Wang at
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
Fireworks for July 4 safe this year, tariff talks may dim them in future
Like clockwork, Carla Johnson sends out letters every spring asking for donations to help pay for the annual Fourth of July fireworks show that draws tens of thousands of people to New Mexico's largest lake. And she has no reservations about doling out verbal reminders when she sees her patrons around town. There's too much at stake to be shy about fundraising when donations collected by Friends of Elephant Butte Lake State Park are what make the tradition possible. But even Johnson's ardent efforts as the group's fundraiser might not cut it next year if the US and China remain locked in a trade war. With nearly all of the aerial shells, paper rockets and sparkly fountains that fuel America's Fourth of July celebrations being imported from China, volunteer groups like Johnson's and cities big and small have been closely watching the negotiations. A 90-day pause on what had been massive tariffs brought some temporary relief, but industry experts acknowledge that the tiff has lit a fuse of uncertainty as the price tag for future fireworks displays could skyrocket if an agreement isn't reached. Not the first time There were similar concerns in 2019 as trade talks between the US and China dragged on. Industry groups had called on officials then to exempt fireworks from escalating tariffs. The American Pyrotechnics Association and the National Fireworks Association reignited the lobbying effort this spring, noting in letters to President Donald Trump that fireworks play a crucial role in American celebrations. The groups say the industry is made up mostly of family-owned companies that are often locked into long-term contracts that leave them unable to raise prices to offset cost surges brought on by higher tariffs. And there are few options for sourcing the more than 300 million pounds (136 million kilograms) of fireworks needed to feed demands. China produces 99 per cent of consumer fireworks and 90 per cent of professional display fireworks used in the US, according to the APA. I think overall it's the uncertainty, said Julie Heckman, the APA's executive director. Yeah, we have a 90-day pause, but are the negotiations with China going to go well? Or is it going to go sky-high again? You know, triple digits. It's very hard for a small business to plan." How it began Fireworks have their roots in China. To ward off evil spirits, people would throw bamboo stalks into a fire, causing them to pop as the air inside the hollow pockets heated up. These early firecrackers evolved into more sophisticated fireworks after the Chinese developed gunpowder in the 9th century. By the 15th century, Europe was using fireworks for religious festivals and entertainment. In 1777, they were used in Philadelphia and Boston for what were the first organised Independence Day celebrations. Now, fireworks are synonymous with the summer holiday and with ringing in the new year. Shows have become elaborately choreographed displays that are often synced to live music. In Nashville, the Music City's award-winning symphony orchestra puts its own spin on the festivities. In New York City, organisers of the Macy's show will fire off 80,000 shells, with some reaching heights of 1,000 feet (304 metres). The National Park Service promises a spectacular show on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. At Elephant Butte in southern New Mexico, they're going old school and will light the fireworks by hand. Charlie Warren, vice president of the Friends of Elephant Butte Lake State Park, said it's like spectators are getting two shows at once as the colours reflect on the water below and the loud booms reverberate off the lake. Johnson, who also serves as the group's treasurer, gets emotional describing the experience. Oh man, in my heart and sometimes out loud, I'm singing the Star-Spangled Banner. I'll sing it out loud to the top of my lungs when I watch that show," she said. It makes you proud to be in this country, and we're celebrating our freedom, and I'm going to start crying now. Don't get me started. Stocking up before the tariffs Organisers in Nashville ordered fireworks for that show over a year ago so they weren't affected by the tariffs. It was the same in one of New Mexico's largest cities, where Rio Rancho officials planned to spend a little more to go bigger and higher this year. In Oklahoma, Big Blast Fireworks supplies nonprofit groups so they can fundraise by setting up fireworks stands. The company received its first container from China in January before the tariffs hit. The second container arrived in February and was subject to a 10 per cent tariff. The third container was put on hold to avoid the highest tariffs, meaning inventory could be tight later this year if nothing changes. As a small business, we are passionate about watching our price points and intentional about passing along as much savings on to customers as possible," said Melissa Torkleson, a managing partner at Big Blast. With some orders on hold, industry experts say Chinese manufacturers throttled back production as warehouses filled up. The backup in the supply chain also has resulted in competition for shipping space aboard ocean vessels, and Heckman, the APA's director, said it will take much more than flipping a light switch to ease either situation. If the trade war drags on, she said, there are ways that show organisers can adjust and spectators might not notice. A minute or two could be shaved from a show or certain types of fireworks could be substituted with less expensive options. As for this year, Warren said the price tag for the Elephant Butte show was unchanged and he and Johnson can't wait to see spectators lining the shoreline, on the surrounding hillsides and on boats bobbing on the lake. The mission every year is to make sure that the T's are all crossed," Warren said. "Because this community would not be happy if this show didn't come off, he said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Government, industry, academia working to resolve issues concerning rare earth magnets: Meity official
The government, industry and academia are working to resolve the issues concerning rare earth magnets, which are used in the automobile sector and other devices, a senior Meity official said on Friday. The technology exists to make rare earth magnets but to produce them at a commercially competitive rate is a challenge, Ministry of Electronics and IT, Additional Secretary, Amitesh Sinha said. Speaking on the sidelines of the Tec-Verse event showcasing PSU technology research, Sinha said that to solve the issues concerning rare earth, all three partners - government, industry and academia - are doing their work. "Technology is there, but we have to see how commercially we can do it at a competitive price. So that is the main challenge. The government will surely work because these things are now becoming strategic and important," Sinha said. The Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology ( C-MET ), a research unit under Meity, at the event signed a transfer of technology agreement with Ahmedabad-based firm Somal Magnets for the production of rare earth magnets. Sinha said the work on the technology development has been going on for some years as the government realises the importance of material technologies. "It is an effort of the last few years. So they (C-MET) have already been working on it, but suddenly the focus has come on this rare earth material. For such things, first we will have to develop a capability which, at the time of crisis, can be easily scaled. So that kind of infrastructure or capability we are aiming for now," Sinha said. He, however, said Meity is not directly engaged in the production of rare earth magnets but only in some technologies that are important for their production. In April 2024, China implemented strict export licensing on rare earth elements like terbium and dysprosium - key inputs for high-level performance NdFeB ( Neodymium-Iron-Boron ) magnets used in consumer electronics. The country's oldest electronics industry body, Elcina, said that the move has disrupted global supply chains, hitting India's fast-growing hearables and wearables sector hard, and the device makers are switching to import fully assembled speaker modules from China. Elcina estimates that the rare earth metal-based magnets account for around 5-7% of the Bill of Materials, and India imports nearly 100% of its NdFeB magnet requirement, with China accounting for 90% of the total imports. The industry body said prices of China-origin magnets have increased due to tightened supply and administrative bottlenecks, and alternate sources, such as Japan, the European Union and the US, are 2-3 times more expensive and also lack sufficient capacity to meet India's rising demand. Rare earth magnets include neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB). It is used for high-performance automotive applications such as traction motors in electric vehicles (two-wheelers and passenger vehicles) and power steering motors (in passenger vehicles) in both electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles.
