The ‘harvest’ China wants is one India cannot afford

When Luo Zhaohui, then China’s Ambassador to India, revived the idea of an “early harvest” in India-China boundary negotiations in 2017, India responded with scepticism. The proposal — to settle the Sikkim boundary in isolation from the three other sectors — was an asymmetric concession dressed up in the language of progress. India has resisted it. There is now a gnawing doubt as to whether it can hold that position. The trigger for this piece is a former border negotiator’s concern that India might “stumble” into a damaging course of action under Chinese pressure and driven by the temptation to project contrived progress. Diplomacy that trades long-term strategic interests for short-term optics is self-defeating.