Narendra Modi’s nationalism comes with skewed sonic boom: louder towards Pakistan and Bangladesh; quieter towards China. Chest-thumping with Pakistan and belittling Bangladesh have become public flexing of power-patriotism, while troubling developments involving China are wrapped in outright lies and reassuring diplomatic niceties.

The recent disclosure by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police chief that confrontations with Chinese troops continue in Arunachal Pradesh has, once again, exposed the distance between the government’s presentation of bilateral relations and the conditions that India’s border forces face.

The Pakistan comparison needs a qualification. Modi’s posture towards Pakistan has become somewhat quieter since the May 2025 ceasefire, which Trump claimed to have brokered through the threat of high trade tariffs. Modi has yet to convincingly counter Trump’s repeated claims of external mediation, which punctures the media-manufactured image of a leader in control of outcomes.

The comparison with China comes clearest in the preceding decade, when Pakistan and, to some extent, Bangladesh, particularly after Sheikh Hasina’s departure, dominated the government’s public displays of toughness.

ITBP director-general Shatrujeet Kapur has confirmed continuing face-offs at multiple locations. Tensions were reported around Asaphila in the Taksing Circle of Arunachal Pradesh since July, and went unacknowledged by the government.

In a vaguely worded statement, the foreign ministry has now (finally) acknowledged that friction occurs when Chinese troops depart from established patrolling patterns. These admissions hardly describe a settled frontier. Yet, the political leadership insists Indians celebrate improved relations with no clear explanation of what remains unsettled, what China is doing, and what India has secured or surrendered.

The soldiers’ courage in exceptionally difficult terrain makes the government’s evasiveness harder to defend. Indians should not have to cobble together an understanding of national security from scattered........

© National Herald