• I’m grateful to Shekhar Gupta for reminding us that scare-mongering is very damaging to us. Some journalists and politicians are trying to take advantage of reportedly “aggressive incursions” by China. India, in 2009, is not under-prepared, as it was in 1962, for any misadventure by our adversaries. China knows it too. Our scare-mongering friends should know that the Indian and Chinese armies have been playing cat-and-mouse games for long. The intention is to test preparedness, find gaps and locate depth of defences, not to start a war. Both armies move in and out, without any skirmish; there’s no firing as often happens on our north-western borders.

In the early ‘80s, my unit helped deploy a tank across the border through a pass near Sikkim, eyeball to eyeball, to tell the Chinese to back off. It was the first instance of the Indian army taking a tank up so high and close to the Chinese army. Our action forced them to stop their aggressive manoeuvres. This was done quietly, without any media hype. So, what’s the big deal now? We should read Gupta’s suggestion and calm down. Meanwhile, we are strengthening our borders unobtrusively and as quietly as possible.

— A.I. Nomani

Mumbai

Act quietly

• One hopes that the PM and the NSA are correct about China; that is, that the media hype is indeed more than the “threat”. History shows the price one pays for not reading the writing on the wall. True, India is not the India of 1962; but neither are China and Pakistan. The two countries have a pact by the logic of “an enemy’s enemy is a friend”. If a big and powerful US is wary of China, why are we trying to look the other way? Instead of making statements to soothe the public and pacify the Chinese, the PM should quietly strengthen our defences. That would do more to keep the enemy at bay.

... contd.