This interview w fmr Indian NSA/amb. to China @ShivshankaMenon re standoff is interesting.

"this is about our future relationship w/ China. The Chinese need to understand...that this is going to hv v serious repercussions for the rel going fwd" 1/

With caveat re paucity of information, @ShivshankaMenon says Chinese behavior is "v different" from the past. "Presumption must be" that it is "trying change to the situation on the ground."

If reports are true, "represent massive escalation by the Chinese of their demands" 2/

. @ShivshankaMenon says the Indian demand must be restoration of status quo ante.

"That is a test of Chinese sincerity. If they are not willing to do so, we then need to draw other conclusions about the future, about how we behave, how we expect them to behave as well" 3/

. @ShivshankaMenon: "Govt cannot negotiate in public...what govt can do by making public stmts...is actually strengthen its own negotiating hand by making clear what is negotiable & what is not."

Silence "suggests to the other side that evthg is negotiable" 4/

. @ShivshankaMenon understands GoI silence on op details & says it has to keep room for flexibility in negotiations.

But says GoI shld make clear to its public & the world that it wants a return to status quo ante. Adds GoI shld not accept 2-steps-fwd-1-step-back from China 5/

. @ShivshankaMenon doesn't think China is signaling cuz doesn't seem to be a clear signal. Believes action vs India "part of a general shift in C behavior in the way they deal w/ the world."

Thinks internal/extrnl stress -> ultra-nationalism (Taiwan, HK, tariff war w/ Aus) 6/

Asked whether or not there'd been failure on Indian side, @ShivshankaMenon: "Right now we hv a crisis to deal with, &...we, as India, shld deal w/ the crisis...Afterwards, as in any such case...do an analysis of what happened, what we did right..[&] wrong, who did what & when. 7/