China being rattled by India's membership of the QUAD-Quadrilateral Security Initiative basically stems from the strategic reality that China perceives that India adds substantive geopolitical and strategic ballast to QUAD as a deterrent force altering the balance of power against China in 2021.
China consequently seems to have stepped up a disinformation campaign within India by exploiting some sections of Indian polity, media and columnists to sell the Chinese narrative that India would be vwell advised to quit the QUAD as it is not a sustainable concept and that India could end up as a gopolitical loser in the end game.
The Chinese narrative advanced by such Indian media analyses argues primarily that (1)China is an ascendant power on a trajectory that would lead it to Superpower status (2)The United States is a "Declining Power" whose global predominance is shrinking (3) Amongst the QUAD nations, India is the only nation that shares land-borders with China and thus positioned to exert military coercive pressures on India (4) The Indian Navy is weak and incaable of taking the Chinese Navy head-on.
In a nutshell China is attempting to sow doubts within India that India by opting for an active role in the QUAD is on the 'losing side'.
Analytically., the above narrative appears to be a 'Disinformation Campaign' by China within India to influence Indian public opinion not only against the QUAD of which India is now an active participant but also against the US-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership --the "Oyster" from which QUAD has emerged.
Why I term this as a Chinese 'Disinformation Campaign' can be proved by a few short sentences which blows the entire rationale outlined above to bits and pieces.
Firstly, China may be an ascendant power but that is only by the size of its military arsenal. In 2021, China stands geopolitically diminished by China's acts of omission and commission. They stand well publicised from South China Sea to India's Himalayan Ladakh.
Secondly, the United States is not a 'Declining Power' as China would like the world to believe. China's geopolitical, military and economic asymmetries with the United States still do not equip China to liquidate United States global predominance. and its influence toshape global events.
Thirdly, China unlike past decades, is in 2021, not in a position to militarily coerce India as India's pushback against China in Eastern Ladakh in June 2020 would lucidly illustrate.
Fourthly, the Indian Navy is a potent Navy which can effectively interdict China's Sea Lanes of Communication in theIndian Ocean on which China relies for its energy supplies and trade. Indian Navy has even made its presence felt at China's doorstep in South China Sea.
Besides the bove strategic realiites, what cannot be overlooked is that China has no comparative security grouping to offer as counterweight against the QUAD nor can one envisage one on the horizon.
Concluding, China would be well advised to recognise that within India when it comes to choosing India's 'Strategic Partners' , if the choice is between China and the United States, then Indian public opinion would predominantly rely on the United States as India's preferred 'Strategic Partner".
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