•With the external affairs ministry claiming that borders with China are the most peaceful ones, one is at a loss to understand the sporadic skirmishes. With all speculation laid to rest of a possible armed conflict, diplomatic moderation to ensure cordial relations was seen as the most sensible option. However, contrary to expectations, bilateral tensions between India and China have never eased and China, when it comes to Arunachal Pradesh, has been stubborn. The lack of clarity about where the lines of control actually lie has resulted in China’s claims of Arunachal as disputed territory.

However, China’s audacious protest, publicly questioning the prime minister’s visit to the state, should baffle the worst of cynics. How the routine visits of our prime minister to a state which is an “integral and inalienable part” of India could invite harsh censure from a foreign state is difficult to digest. Against this backdrop, India’s stern advise to China about projects inside Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and the home ministry clarifying that India will only issue employment visas to highly skilled Chinese workers means a hardening of its stance.

— Pachu Menon

Goa

Welcome shift

•According to Karna Basu, this year’s Economics Nobel, unlike in the recent past, is an implicit approval of non-mathematical methods in economics (‘The social science prize’, IE, October 15). If that is so, it is a welcome change. Econometricians and those who swear by mathematical economics have over the years introduced in economics very high doses of mathematics to the detriment of economic logic. One cannot be oblivious to the fact that in economics, which is essentially “a study of mankind in quest of his daily bread and butter”, two and two do not always make four.

... contd.