United behind the soldier

The Modi government has done rather well to invite, albeit belatedly, the opposition parties for consultations and a briefing on the developments on the India-China standoff at Doklam. This is a definite — and, a welcome — departure for a government that otherwise cockily practises unilateralism and professes a disdain for the opposition parties. But this business at Doklam is serious, and though shots have not yet been fired, the situation remains precarious. The government has at last realised that the faceoff is no more amenable to practised jumalabazi and that it was about time that the national political leadership across the board, too, was taken into confidence. 

Fortunately, despite all the divisiveness that mars our national politics, there is a healthy tendency to close ranks when it comes to matters of national defence.  Those who sit in the Opposition today are not unfamiliar with the calculus of national security; nor are the opposition leaders so irresponsible and so partisan that they would not recognise the gravity of the situation at Doklam. This is no time for finger-pointing. In the event, the Opposition has redeemed itself by extending full and unconditional support to the government to deal with the Chinese manoeuvres. Our adversaries as well as our allies make their moves on the basis of perceptions about the nature and extent of national support an incumbent government enjoys. It can only be a matter of considerable satisfaction that the Opposition has wisely provided the enemy no comfort. 

The absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Friday’s consultations remains somewhat inexplicable. His “silence” on the standoff at Doklam, too, remains inexplicable. This silence has given a free hand to the uber-nationalist voices in raising the temperature at home and cramping diplomacy’s space for negotiation and bargaining. This is not the first time the Chinese have tested the Modi government's capacity and calibre for playing a sophisticated geo-strategic game; but this time the government’s popularity and acceptability are visibly frayed at the edges. It is, therefore, necessary to send out a loud and clear signal that the entire political and public opinion is behind our brave soldiers.