Very interesting discussion, I am from Pakistan and this history was very thought provoking. Steve Hsu is really bringing topics and discussions that I am excited about and his blog is often the go to place for me when I get bored, I open it and start randomly reading different topics. So, many thanks to Steve for this effort.

"Forward deploy nuclear..." I never heard of such thing.

The PRC did try to settle the border by offering to concede South Tibet in the 1950s, 60s but India rejected the offer because India also claim Aksai Chin as Indian's territory. That is the reason the border was never settled. As years passed the position of the PRC has hardened to the point that today the PRC has explicitly stated that South Tibet is an integral part of the PRC.

great show as always, but this one need subtitles

great elucidation by my favourite geostrategist Mr. Bharat Karnad

A true hard core realist is very hard to find in the MEA but the country's hopes rest on Mr. Modi and thought influencers like Bharat! I'm very optimistic about India and its future.

Wonderful discussion

Dr Karnad’s use of the term a ‘subjugated nation’ is eerily relevant today, where we are completely subjugated by the Hindutva philosophy and viciously turned against our minorities and happily go along with the destruction of all the pillars of our democracy, the Judiciary, the parliamentary form of government, the freedom of the press and timidly following a one man dictatorship. Maybe this is unfortunately in our genes. It is mainly the Southern States ( Tamil Nadu and Kerala) and Bengal who have stood up to this tyranny.

As late as in the 1940s after World War II, the flag of the Republic of China (nowadays usually known as Taiwan) was flying high in Tawang, South Tibet. Today the Indian flag is flying there. So what happened? Here is a brief summary of what's going on: On August 14th, 1947, Nehru gave his famous 'Tryst with Destiny' speech, and with that, a country that historically did not exist suddenly showed up on China's doorstep. India is similar to South Africa, a country that came into existence only because the colonialists created the country and subsequently and willingly relinquished its power to the indigenous people. If the British had never landed in India, the subcontinent today would comprise thousands of fiefdoms often at each other's throats. This was the time of pre-Communist China (Republic of China), and India continued the expansionist policy of the British Raj and continued the land incursion. The Nationalist China (pre-Communist Republic of China) had been sending repeated diplomatic protests to the then-Indian Nehru government, but, schooled by the British on how to deal with these nuisances, these diplomatic protests were duly ignored. When the Communist China won the civil war and the Republic of China retreated to Taiwan in 1949, India's land incursion continued, but Communist China ceased all diplomatic protests. In February 1951, three and a half years after the British Raj had left the subcontinent, India finally trekked up to Tawang, South Tibet, and annexed it. The Tibetan Lhasa government protested, as did the Republic of China (by then already retreated to Taiwan), but curiously, Communist China made no noise. Communist China's accommodation must have greatly emboldened India as it continued to push northward into China, eventually precipitating the one-month-long 1962 India-China war. India was swiftly defeated. One thing about India is that it positioned itself as a victim of Chinese aggression when, in fact, it had already gobbled up South Tibet in 1951. India's duplicities have far-reaching consequences beyond the dispute between the two countries. India's lies created the narrative of a land-grabbing, expansionist China, which, according to Henry Kissinger and Robert MacNamara, is the reason the US got involved in the Vietnam War. In 1987, India made South Tibet a state and renamed it the so-called Arunachal Pradesh. The Republic of China (usually referred to as Taiwan nowadays) once again issued a statement strongly condemning India. Here is an excerpt of the statement put out by the Republic of China: "In regard to the issue of the Indian government's illegal occupation of our country's territory and the establishment of the so-called 'Arunachal Pradesh,' the foreign ministry of the Republic of China issued the following announcement at midnight: India's illegal occupation of our country's territory has been repeatedly stated by the government of the Republic of China as something it will not recognize. Recently, the Indian Congress unilaterally passed the establishment of 'Arunachal Pradesh' to the south of the so-called McMahon Line. The Indian government also made it a state. The government of the Republic of China once again solemnly proclaims that the government of India intends to legitimize its illegal occupation of Chinese territory. The government of the Republic of China regards this as illegal, void, and absolutely not recognized." Besides South Tibet, I would like to bring up one of India's many land grabs, which is the kingdom of Sikkim. Sikkim was a neighbor of China for many hundreds of years and enjoyed a close relationship with China. At one point during the 18th century, Sikkim was briefly overrun by the Nepalese Gorkhas. The Sikkim king fled the country and asked China for help. The then-Qianlong emperor dispatched an expedition force, repelled the Gorkhas, and restored the kingdom's independence. Sikkim was left unmolested for the rest of its history until India gobbled it up in 1975. India's sense of land entitlement is both puzzling and troubling. The dispute with China is akin to Turkey arguing with Denmark about a piece of territory in Scandinavia. Its other land grabs are similarly unjustified. Until they were absorbed by India, Ladakh, South Tibet, and Sikkim had never even been set foot on by the brown race Indian. These places have no connection whatsoever to the subcontinent. Why is India even there?

I absolutely have contempt for the indians because they'd rather live on their knees than stand up and defy their former colonizer. I am sure the entire global South shares the same sentiment since India decided to side with Israel, the only colonized nation to do so

This guy sounds a little too nationalistic, which unfortunately, keeps you from empathizing with the other side. You cannot have compromise if you insist your country's perspective is 100% right.

Bharat's k iwledge about Indian society is very lacking.

Good thing the British took the Chinese artefacts back to London. Look what Mao did.