PM's China visit: Made in China hallmark of relations with northern neighbour

By Shaktisinh Gohil*Merchant of fake dreams, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken off on a paid vacation to China to avoid uncomfortable questions about his one year tenure as Prime Minister. Modi completes his one year tenure on May 16. All his fake promises of employment of 15 lakh youth in each department, strengthening of the rupee, no farmer will ever commit suicide, safety for women in public spaces and others have proved hollow during the year. To avoid accountability and facing the nation, Modi has gone off to China on an official trip.
This visit to China, now that he has undertaken it, should not be limited to sight-seeing, enjoying hospitality and a feel-good visit. India’s experience with China since 1962 has not been pleasant. Last year also when Chinese president Xi Jinping visited India, his visit was marked with an intrusion on our border by the Chinese.
Modi should also take up important issues with China. Last year Jinping promised $20 billion investment which is still nowhere in sight even after nearly nine months of the promise. In fact, according to the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Chinese exports to India have gone up remarkably and crossed over $45 billion in last one year.
This shows that Modi's claim of Make in India is a hollow rhetoric, and it is Made in China that is dominating the market. Even the much hyped Chinese investment of an industrial park in Gujarat has merely remained on paper.
Small and medium industries are getting weaker. Everything, from Hindu deity idols to textiles and technology and toys, are gradually exported with Made in China sign, crowding the market. Meanwhile, the Indian rupee during the one year continues to weaken considerably over the Chinese Yuan.
Maybe since Modi is an official guest in China, it is not the right time to discuss continuous Chinese intrusions into Indian borders, but the Prime Minister definitely needs to discuss China’s interests in and incentives to Pakistan, which have been continuously fuelling terrorism in India. China’s recent Aid of $46 billion to Pakistan should officially be protested by our Prime Minister.
China has gradually been trying to control Arunachal Pradesh. The buzz is that China is keen to have the next Dalai Lama a China-controlled personality. India needs to make its stand clear that it would not cooperate with China on this.
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*Spokesperson, Indian National Congress; MLA, Abdasa, Gujarat

Rani Laxmi Bai, Tatya Tope 'martyred' by East India Company, Scindia's forefathers

Jiyaji Rao Scindia By A Representative In an email alert to Counterview, well-known political scientist Shamsul Islam has said that was “shameful for any political party in democratic India to keep children of Sindhias in their flock” given their role during the First War of Indian Independence (1857). In a direct commentary on Madhya Pradesh Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia moving over to BJP, Prof Islam has quote from a British gazetteer to prove his point.

Caste, class, and Patidar agitation: Veteran academic 'unearths' Gujarat’s social history

By Rajiv Shah Recently, I was talking with a veteran Gujarat-based academic who is the author of several books, including "Social Movements in India: A Review of Literature", "Untouchability in Rural India", "Public Health and Urban Development: The Study of Surat Plague", and "Dalit Identity and Politics", apart from many erudite articles and papers in research and popular journals.

The anti-national tag: Silencing India’s water protests or admitting the truth?

By Dr. Mansee Bal Bhargava A few days ago, several women from Chandkheda, Ahmedabad, staged a protest at the Municipal Corporation office, raising concerns about the lack of water availability in their neighbourhood. These women were labelled "anti-national." This characterisation follows remarks by Nitin Gadkari , Minister of Road Transport & Highways, who recently described those who speak about India's water crisis as "anti-national." While Gadkari made this statement in reference to his ethanol project, the term has increasingly become governmental language for citizens who raise questions and objections.

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