Sir — This refers to the article, “As times change, the dragon gets friendly’ (March 21) by Gautam Mukherjee. The article speaks only for China and fails to explain why we need to buy defence hardware from that country. No amount of argument lauding the advanced Chinese technology can make Beijing equal to the US or the European Union.
It’s true that China is better than India in manufacturing capability and research and development, but if we want to break from the West as a net buyer, we should put our money into developing and manufacturing our own hardware. I wonder how an engagement with China would benefit India.