India in Kashgar

Throughout history, the Chinese and Indian empires spent much of their energies beating back invaders from inner Asia. The Great Game in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw the intersection of the frontier policies of China and India.

Although British India coveted greater influence in Tibet and Xinjiang (it was known as Eastern Turkestan then), much to the annoyance of a weak China, London and Calcutta were happy to cut Beijing some political slack in order to prevent Russian domination of the Eurasian heartland.

The triangular power play was at the heart of India’s diplomatic mission in Kashgar, the historic Silk Road city that linked the far-flung border regions of Chinese, Russian and Indian empires.

The British consulate in Kashgar was founded in 1890, but recognised by the Chinese only in 1908. Funded and manned entirely by the Foreign and Political Department (a precursor of the current Indian Foreign Service), British India’s consulate in Kashgar lasted until revolutionary developments engulfed China in the middle of the last century.

Given the complex history of the Central Asian region and the unstable power dynamics of the Great Game, India should never stop looking for potential strategic cooperation with other major powers, including China.

India should avoid reacting negatively to every advance in China’s regional position. The judgment on how Beijing’s rise affects Delhi must be based on specifics of a situation, rather than a generalised ‘China threat’ theory.

That Beijing and Delhi have shared interests in Afghanistan and Central Asia is not in doubt. What they need is a new framework for regional security cooperation that looks beyond their mutual obsession with Pakistan.

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