As our China debate continues, we must thank Defence Minister A.K. Antony for injecting a new word into the argument — capabilities — and facilitating a long overdue shift away from New Delhi’s anxious talk about Beijing’s intentions.

If India’s military capabilities and security infrastructure were in better shape, New Delhi would have no reason to be surprised by Beijing’s many moves — including the most recent one on issuing visas on separate pieces of paper for Indian citizens from Jammu and Kashmir.

According to Antony, who has held the defence portfolio for some time, India did not invest adequately in military modernisation in the past, it was doing it now, and there was no reason to worry. His remarks amount to a confession, policy affirmation and public reassurance all rolled into one.

The minister’s remarks reveal the different policy universes that China and India inhabit. China’s national security elite has learnt the art of talking softly but acquiring bigger and better sticks. India, as a collective, in contrast, talks loudly, non-stop, and carries a small stick.

Take, for example, our nuclear debate. No other country in the world is as obsessed as India is with the “text” of the nuclear treaties and agreements. As a result, it spends so little time on the “context” of the changing nuclear and missile capabilities of other powers and the shifting balance among them.

Our Parliament repeatedly debated the civil nuclear initiative with the US during 2005-08 and came close to pulling down the Manmohan Singh government, thanks to the tacit partnership between the CPM and the BJP.

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