India, Nov. 8 -- From its vantage point, the Chinese Communist Party sees chaos in the West and a coming together of the radical Left and Islamism. It naturally believes that only China can reconcile and tackle these forces.

If you are a policymaker from the Chinese Communist Party watching the world unfold in the last few months, what are you possibly thinking? This not an academic question. Predicting this this-or at least should be-one of the key things for Indian strategists.

As noted in an earlier essay in this newspaper, "The new challenge of China" (Oct 4, 2026), China is recrafting its global narrative as it sees Western institutions start to crumble. In Europe, at a time when countries are desperately trying to rebuild defence ...