Welcoming foreign scholars

Decades of xenophobia stoked by both the left and right in this country have ceded extraordinary powers to lower levels of the Indian security establishment to deny entry to large numbers of foreign scholars; for research or conferences.

If the fear of 8220;foreign hand8221; has led to a closing of the Indian mind, China since the late 1970s moved in the other direction. Today 8220;Communist China8221; hosts ten times more foreign students than 8220;liberal India8221;. The latest available figures for enrolment of foreign students in China stand at 141,087 in 2005 8212; in India 8212; 13,267. China actively cultivates foreign scholars as potential friends and allies.

China8217;s openness to engagement with the international academic community has lifted the quality of China8217;s universities. It has also given a big boost to China studies in the US and Europe. New Delhi8217;s mindless control over foreign scholars has virtually killed India studies in most parts of the world.

Space navigation

After stunning the world last month by shooting down a satellite in space with a rocket, China is now taking its breath away with plans to build a satellite navigation system called 8220;Beidou8221; or simply 8220;Compass8221; in English.

A few days ago, China launched a satellite that will be part of a system to provide navigation services similar to those in the market from the US 8220;Global Positioning System8221; and the Russian 8220;Glonass8221; network. The Chinese Compass will eventually compete with these services and those planned by the European 8220;Galileo8221; system.

China hopes to put in place more than 30 satellites in the coming years to offer comprehensive global coverage. The system is also expected to significantly improve the communication networks of the Chinese armed forces.

India8217;s hot air

At a recent international conference organised by the Indian Air Force in the capital, both the External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Minister A.K. Antony waxed eloquently against the 8220;weaponisation8221; of outer space.

Neither of them, however, was willing to talk of the fact that current international law does not prohibit nations from pursuing 8220;military uses8221; of outer space. Nor were they willing to acknowledge the fact that India is way behind China in leveraging military space technology to boost the war-fighting capabilities of armed forces.

The pattern of official speak in New Delhi is very similar to the self-deluding rhetoric on nuclear disarmament in the 1960s. When China was building nuclear weapons, India kept talking of the virtues of eliminating them. It took India nearly 34 years to respond effectively to Chinese nuclear capabilities. One hopes it won8217;t take that long on the space front.

Seychelles blues

When Chinese President Hu Jintao called Seychelles 8220;a shining pearl in the Indian Ocean8221; during his visit there last week; he might have been tongue in cheek. Those who follow the rising Chinese navy in the Indian Ocean have accused Beijing of following a 8220;string of pearls8221; strategy.

Security establishments around the world, including in India, suspect that China is developing maritime access arrangements from Myanmar to Madagascar.

After Hu8217;s visit, there will be unanswered questions in New Delhi on whether China is seeking a naval base in Seychelles. There are unconfirmed reports China might be specially interested in the Aldabra island. The US had apparently considered developing this island in Seychelles as an important military base before it finally chose Diego Garcia.