By Christian Romero, TMB – Argentina
For the unity of the Hindustani masses in an anti-imperialist front that stands united in defense of China on the path to building a socialist federation of Hindustan! Let us defend all the peoples who are targets of imperialist maneuvers, for the defense of the territorial integrity of Pakistan! No to Modi’s Islamophobia in India! For the rights of the people of Kashmir!
The Hindustan subcontinent is the geographic region comprising most of historical India , currently divided between the states of India , Pakistan , Bangladesh , Nepal , and Bhutan . [1] For cultural and geographic reasons, the island states of Sri Lanka and the Maldives are also considered part of the subcontinent . All of these countries are part of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC ) . The Hindustan subcontinent was known for centuries as Hindustan and is equivalent to the territory that, until the demise of the British Raj in 1947, was known as “British India”. In total, the area of the Indian subcontinent is about 4,480,000 km².
The Hindustan subcontinent is one of the most densely populated regions in the world. Over 1.6 billion (as of 2019) people, a quarter of the world’s population , live in the region. The population density of 350 people per square kilometer is seven times higher than the world average.
The current India-Pakistan conflict, originating from Kashmir and the border with the Chinese Workers’ State and Pakistan’s role in China’s alliance system.
Escalation of the conflict between India and Pakistan after the attack in the Indian province of Kashmir (please understand that here we refer to Kashmir as a province of India, there are also areas of so-called “classical” Kashmir that are now part of Pakistan and China). Kashmir, as a province of India, has an overwhelming majority of Muslims closely linked to Pakistan. The escalation of the conflict (it is worth noting that both India and Pakistan are nuclear states) has been going on since the Islamophobic Modi government accused Pakistan of the attack without evidence, as there have now been calls for the withdrawal of diplomatic corps by both countries, toughening of anti-immigrant measures by the Modi government itself and conflicts generated by India over the joint management of the Indus River water system. In the Indian province of Kashmir, opposition groups are active against New Delhi, including separatists or those seeking unification with Pakistan. The Indian province of Kashmir has a population of 13 million and borders China.
The border between Kashmir and China and that between Pakistan and China itself, forces us to observe the current state of relations between Pakistan and China (since the second half of the 20th century they have historically been allies, but this has been a process of ups and downs, especially in recent decades). In short, it would be necessary to observe whether, behind this escalation against the Muslim majority in Kashmir and the siege of Pakistan, there is not, in essence, a maneuver by imperialism for a relatively “indirect” approach (for offensive military purposes) against China; the Modi government in India, at the level of its geostrategic deployment in the Indo-Pacific, has already demonstrated its pro-American orientation.
Defending the Muslim population of Kashmir – the vast majority – from the Islamophobia of the pro-imperialist Modi government, we must take a stand against Pakistan, China’s role in the region and, as a strategic objective, call for a socialist federation of Hindustan – the Hindustani subcontinent – of which India and Pakistan are the main countries – together they concentrate 25% of the world’s population by 2024, that is, we are facing a fundamental issue from the point of view of the international situation.
In the specific case of Pakistan, it is important to highlight that, despite being a nuclear state, Pakistan also borders Iran to the southwest. Iran is currently facing an increasing siege by American-Zionist imperialism, whose goal is to eliminate any space for independence for Iran itself.
To highlight how the threat of attack on Pakistan is also part of a (for now) “indirect” approach against the Chinese workers’ state, it is necessary to highlight Pakistan’s role as part of China’s alliance system, which plays a central role because it is on China’s very border and therefore on the front line (for or against) China.
As part of this, the following military ties between China and Pakistan can be noted.
By 2025, military cooperation between China and Pakistan will continue, with a focus on joint exercises, technology transfer and naval capacity development. Joint counter-terrorism exercises such as Warrior VIII have been conducted, and joint submarine construction programs are underway.
Details of military cooperation:
Joint exercises: The Chinese and Pakistani militaries conduct joint exercises, such as the “Warrior VIII,” to enhance military cooperation and assess operational capabilities.
Technology transfer: China supports Pakistan in developing its nuclear program and acquiring military technology.
Naval cooperation: Pakistan and China are working together to build Hangor-class submarines.
Participation in multinational exercises: Pakistan organizes multinational naval exercises, such as the AMAN, in which China participates, demonstrating its commitment to regional maritime security.
Naval cooperation: Pakistan and China are working together to build Hangor-class submarines.
Participation in multinational exercises: Pakistan organizes multinational naval exercises, such as the AMAN, in which China participates, demonstrating its commitment to regional maritime security.
Information exchange and training: Exchanges between the People’s Liberation Army of China and the Pakistani Army include participation in international military competitions, such as the “Pakistan Army Team Spirit.”
Strengthening strategic communication: Both sides have agreed to strengthen strategic communication to enhance mutual understanding.
State visits: High-level visits, such as the visit of the President of Pakistan to China in February 2025, strengthen diplomatic and economic ties and cooperation in areas such as defense and security.
The siege of China is growing in Hindustan on several fronts
As part of the siege that is being built against China (also from Hindustan), it is important to highlight that not only are the maneuvers against Pakistan intensifying, but also that, for now, in an incipient way, the territorial points of conflict against China itself, currently led by the pro-American and xenophobic government of Modi, are growing.
In this sense, it is worth highlighting the case of the Sela Tunnel, where the United States has explicitly supported India and, in addition, China’s diplomatic maneuvers to try to “calm down” the issue (part of the Chinese Communist Party’s policy of trying to delay as much as possible the progression of a conflict with imperialism), which is ultimately weakening China itself, not only in its alliance system, but, as the case of the Sela Tunnel demonstrates, is already beginning to threaten China’s own territorial integrity.
As of 2025, there are no reports of a specific conflict related to the Sela Tunnel between China and India. However, the construction of this tunnel in the Himalayas, which facilitates access to the disputed border, has exacerbated pre-existing tensions between the two countries. The border dispute, which includes the Line of Actual Control (LAC), remains a point of contention, and the Sela Tunnel has become a new flashpoint.
Sela Tunnel and border tensions:
The Sela Tunnel: The tunnel, built in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, has been interpreted by China as a move to complicate the border dispute.
Arunachal Pradesh: China claims Arunachal Pradesh as its territory and calls it “Zangnan”, while India considers it part of its territory.
LAC: The Line of Actual Control (LAC) is the de facto border between China and India, but there is no agreement on the actual boundary, leading to territorial disputes.
Position: China has criticized the construction of the tunnel and Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, accusing India of complicating the border situation.
Tensions: The construction of the Sela Tunnel and Modi’s visit have increased tension between the two countries, despite diplomatic efforts to ease the friction.
United States: The United States has recognized Arunachal Pradesh as Indian territory and rejects Chinese claims to the region.
Border Patrol Agreement: In 2024, a border patrol agreement was signed between India and China, which restored patrol rights in the Depsang Plains and Demchok region.
China’s conciliatory diplomacy, rather than publicly denouncing US imperialist interference in the conflict, sought formal agreements with India, which unsurprisingly did not deter Modi’s provocations. In this regard, China sought to ensure that both sides abide by the agreement to resume patrol operations in the Ladakh region.
In short, the construction of the Sela Tunnel and Modi’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh have exacerbated border tensions between India and China, although efforts have been made to resume cooperation through agreements such as border patrol.
In the face of the current India-Pakistan conflict, the following demands can be put forward immediately:
1) The defense of the territorial integrity of Pakistan against any pro-imperialist attack from any area. 2) The defense of the Chinese workers’ state against any attempt at encirclement by China, as well as the defense of the territorial integrity of the workers’ state. 3) The demands related to the principle of nationalities must in any sense be aimed at defending the Muslim majority in Kashmir, its national rights (which may include broad autonomy within India, independence, union with Pakistan, etc.), insofar as it does not become an imperialist enclave. It must be made clear that the principle of nationalities is subordinate to the struggle against imperialism. Contexts such as the case of Kosovo in the Balkans are very explicit in the sense that the claim to the principle of nationalities must not serve under any circumstances to favor imperialist expansion or generate new oppressions. 3) The role of the Hindustan subcontinent (of which India and Pakistan are the largest) concentrates together 25% of the world’s population and therefore everything that happens in Hindustan will have a global impact. Finally, the strategic orientation of a socialist federation of Hindustan, which, given the decisive role that Hindustan plays in proportion to all humanity, this socialist federation could well be the trigger for the world revolution.
Modi and xenophobia, drift to the right, paramilitaries and pro-imperialism, political representation of a bourgeoisie based on crony capitalism that finds its role as a junior partner of imperialism in Hindustan and the ultra-right drift as a way to extend its accumulation based on obscurantism and economic concentration, taking control of the state machinery.
Narendra Damodardas Modi [a] ????(born 17 September 1950) [b] is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat (the fifth largest state in India and bordering Pakistan)
from 2001 to 2014 and is the MP for Varanasi . He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an organisation composed of xenophobic far-right Hindu members.
In May 2014, Narendra Modi, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), won the national election in India, becoming the new Prime Minister. Thus, after 66 years of independent existence in the country, a separate grouping of the Indian National Congress Party (INC) emerged.
The Modi government in Guayaquil is a testing ground and springboard for xenophobia and anti-Muslim pogroms.
In Gujarat, Modi has built a political system based on four complementary pillars. He became the Hindu Hriday Samrat (Emperor of Hindu Hearts) after an anti-Muslim pogrom occurred less than six months after he took office. The violence, which resulted in the deaths of around 2,000 people, was triggered by an attack on Hindu nationalists—attributed to local Muslims—on a train at Godhra station. Modi not only allowed the armed wing of the RSS—starting with the Bajrang Dal 5 thugs —to carry out bloody retaliatory operations, but also seized the opportunity to test a new political repertoire, having prematurely dissolved the State Assembly to hold regional elections in a highly unusual context. During the autumn 2002 election campaign, Modi effectively imposed a national-populist style that only Bal Thackeray, the leader of neighboring Maharashtra, had promoted, also with a xenophobic logic, as reflected in his repeated attacks on Islamists, and even on Muslims in general and neighboring Pakistan, accused of being behind the so-called “jihadist attacks” of which Gujarat was allegedly a victim. Modi established himself as the tribune of the Hindus of Gujarat, a favorite theme that became one of his trademarks and made him the “emperor of Hindu hearts.”
The crony capitalism implemented by Modi in Gujarat in the 2010s has taken on a new dimension since he assumed the post of prime minister. That only a handful of businessmen benefited from this political economy at the state level was already remarkable, but to transpose this “model” to the national level is truly extraordinary, even more so when the winners are practically the same. Particularly notable is the central figure of Gautam Adani, who became the owner of several ports and airports privatized by the Modi government. These oligarchs continue to fund the BJP’s election campaigns, notably through a new electoral bond system that allows donors to remain anonymous. https://nuso.org/articulo/307-narendra-modi/
Modi’s Hindu xenophobia continues to herald the replacement of Muslims (and even Christians) with the status of second-class citizens. This process is the result, first of all, of the maneuvers of vigilante organizations, which act as a veritable cultural police on the streets and on university campuses to prevent, manu militari, young Muslims from visiting young Hindus (in the name of their fight against what they call the “love jihad,” an operation that Islamophobic xenophobia would present as a “seduction” aimed at converting Hindu women to Islam). They also fight the “land jihad” to discourage Muslims from buying or occupying houses in Hindu-majority neighborhoods—a veritable process of ghettoization. Worse still, in the name of protecting the cow, the sacred animal par excellence in Hinduism, vigilantes persecute—and even lynch—Muslim cattle herders who transport cattle. Indian secularism is being undermined not only by these practices but also by legal reforms, as reflected in the Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019, which reserves access to Indian citizenship for non-Muslim refugees from Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. In addition, many BJP-ruled states have passed laws that make interfaith marriages and conversions very difficult.
In this regard, the masses of India, including those who identify as Hindus, who play a key role, must unite their struggle for their demands as exploited peoples in the countryside and in the city with the defense of the rights of the Muslim masses of India, as well as of all religious minorities.
US imperialism, in its Trumpist form, sees Modi as a fundamentally important ally.
Vice President J.D. Vance made a four-day, largely personal visit to India last week with his wife, the daughter of Indian immigrants, and their three children; he used the opportunity to discuss trade issues between India and the United States .
He said on Tuesday, April 22, that the United States wants to sell more energy and defense equipment to India to strengthen ties, repeatedly praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi during talks on progress on a trade deal.
The remarks come as India seeks a quick trade deal with the United States , its largest trading partner, before the end of a 90-day pause on high tariffs announced by the Trump administration.
Visiting the northwestern Indian city of Jaipur, Vance praised what he called India’s vibrancy compared with the drabness of some Western nations, following U.S. President Donald Trump ‘s criticism of India’s high tariffs on cars, farm goods and other products.
The rebalancing of global trade due to Trump’s tariff measures “will yield enormous benefits for the people of India,” Vance said, as India seeks to position itself as a manufacturing base while China faces high U.S. tariffs.
“If India and the United States work together successfully, we will see a prosperous and peaceful 21st century… But I also believe that if we do not work together successfully, the 21st century could be a very dark time for all of humanity,” Vance told an audience of hundreds of students, businesspeople, government officials and politicians in Jaipur.
Given that both countries hold regular military exercises, he said it would be natural for India to buy more defense equipment from the United States, including Lockheed Martin’s F-35 LMT.N fighter jets.
“We want to work more closely together and have your nation buy more of our military equipment,” he said.
He noted that the United States is seeking to increase its energy exports to India and to help develop the country’s energy resources, such as its offshore natural gas deposits and strategic mineral reserves. He also emphasized that nuclear energy represents a key axis of cooperation between the two nations.
“Prime Minister Modi is a tough negotiator. He is very tough in his negotiations,” Vance said, drawing laughter from the audience.
Vance said he and Modi, who hosted his family for dinner at his home on Monday, had made significant progress in trade talks and confirmed that both sides had finalized terms of reference for the negotiations. For her part, India’s
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Monday in San Francisco that India, the world’s fastest-growing major economy, expects to successfully conclude the first part of a trade pact by the fall. “This lays a roadmap for a final agreement between our nations,” he said. Relations between JD Vance and Modi are close. The Indian president even visited Vance’s family on his second son’s birthday while both leaders were in France for an artificial intelligence conference in February. “I think he’s a special person,” Vance said.
This renewed interest in the Trumpist-led faction of US imperialism in India should be read (also) in terms of the differences that US imperialism is currently having with its allies in the European Union regarding the direction of Trumpism, and hence the need to seek support from (global actors) for the direction of Trumpism outside the European Union itself.
The Indian bourgeoisie (which, in its current hegemonic position with the Islamophobic Modi government, aims to be a junior partner of US imperialism in the Hindustan subcontinent) seeks to profit from the trade war that Trumpism is waging against China. In this case, there is an opportunity for Indian suppliers of US multinationals, given the possibility of a Trump-led anti-China trade war.
In a very recent context, we have already seen such phenomena in the so-called information industries.
Although the US also imposed reciprocal tariffs of 26% on India, this measure was suspended for 90 days while the country tries to negotiate a bilateral trade agreement with the US. However, the universal US tariffs of 10% on Indian products have not been suspended.
Apple has revealed that it plans to move the assembly of all its iPhones sold in the US to India, according to the Financial Times. Currently, the company still assembles the majority of its iPhones in China. This could happen as early as next year, as the company tries to reduce its dependence on China in the wake of the current escalation of trade and tariff tensions between the US and China.
Some other Apple suppliers, such as Pegatron Technology India and Wistron, also have production facilities in India. However, given the size of the iPhone market in the US, Apple will likely need to further increase its investment in Indian manufacturing facilities to fully meet demand and reduce its dependence on China. https://es.euronews.com/business/2025/04/25/apple-plans-to-translate-to-india-el-ensamblaje-del-iphone-en-un-golpe-a-china
India as part of imperialism’s containment network against China
The ties that the pro-US bourgeoisie in India is building with American imperialism itself are not only economic, but also geostrategic, which must be seen in light of India’s role as a center of gravity in the Indian Ocean basin.
India is part of a military alliance driven by US imperialism, with its expansion towards Japan (Ameripon) and the participation of Australia, with the aim of forming part of an encirclement of China from the countries of the Indian Ocean basin, thus completing the encirclement that is being built against China today by Asia-Pacific imperialism.
The Infobae newspaper (which is known as the press of the US embassy in Argentina) refers to it explicitly in this way.
The US, Australia, India and Japan have reaffirmed their commitment to countering hostilities by the Chinese regime in the Indo-Pacific.
Foreign ministers of the Quad alliance have confirmed the organization of a leaders’ summit, which will be held this year in New Delhi and which could be one of Trump’s first international visits.
The new administration of US President Donald Trump has announced plans for a leaders’ summit in New Delhi this year, together with its partners in the Quad, a strategic alliance formed by Australia, Japan, India and the United States.
This was confirmed on Tuesday by the foreign ministers of the four countries in a joint statement after a meeting in Washington.
“We look forward to advancing the work of the Quad in the coming months and will meet regularly as we prepare for the upcoming Quad Leaders’ Summit hosted by India,” the foreign ministers said in the statement, highlighting their commitment to strengthen cooperation in maritime, economic and technological security in the face of growing threats in the region, an implicit reference to China.
The meeting marks US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s first meeting in his new role, just a day before Trump’s inauguration. https://www.infobae.com/estados-unidos/2025/01/22/eeuu-australia-india-y-japon-reafirmaron-su-compromiso-para-frenar-las-hostilidades-del-regimen-de-china-en-el-indopacifico/
As part of building an anti-imperialist front in India, the elementary demand for India’s break with the Quad must be taken up, which in its development not only aims to consolidate an anti-China military encirclement, but will also end up suffocating all vestiges of India’s independence, paving the way for Imperialism’s increasing control over India itself.
Both India and Pakistan are semi-colonial countries (although with a wide space of autonomy, as seen by the fact that they possess nuclear weapons); therefore, from a Marxist perspective, the strategic defeat of either of the two can never be advocated in a mutual confrontation. We can defend the territorial integrity of one of them when it is the target of attacks by pro-imperialist maneuvers, which may well be used by a pro-imperialist government in one of the semi-colonies in question.
The demands of Marxists in the face of the growing conflict in the Hindustani subcontinent include: 1) the defense of the Chinese workers’ state; 2) the role of the Hindustani subcontinent (of which India and Pakistan are the largest states), which together concentrate 25% of the world’s population and therefore everything that happens in Hindustan will have a global impact. In this sense, it is clear that we must emphasize the defense of the Muslim majority of Kashmir, its national rights (which could include autonomy within India, union with Pakistan, etc.) to the extent that it does not become an imperialist enclave or a platform for the expansion of imperialism; it must be clear that we subordinate the principle of nationalities to the struggle against imperialism. Contexts such as the case of Kosovo in the Balkans are very explicit in the sense that the claim to the principle of nationalities should not serve under any circumstances to favor imperialist expansion or generate new oppressions. Finally, the strategic orientation of a socialist federation of Hindustan, which, given the decisive role that Hindustan plays in proportion to all humanity, such a socialist federation could well be the trigger for the world revolution.
The struggle for all these demands must have as its fundamental actors the exploited and oppressed masses of the cities and the countryside of India, both those who consider themselves Hindus and those who are Muslims, and all minorities. Marxists must strive to unite all the exploited and oppressed of India under a program that, while opposing Modi’s xenophobic Islamophobia, does not use its own working masses as bait in a war engineered by imperialist interests using an ultra-right government. This is part of a task that plays a central role in the unity of the exploited and oppressed throughout Hindustan.
These demands must be accompanied by the hand of proletarian internationalism, promoting an international campaign that is linked to the campaigns against Islamophobia in the West (which today is a growing component of fascism in the West itself, just as before the end of the Second World War, hate campaigns against Jews were a component of Western fascism). This campaign of mobilization against Islamophobia can be strengthened by having as an important basis the set of campaigns that took place in Europe and the Americas against the genocide in Gaza and, in the case of the United Kingdom and the European Union, they must be seen as part of campaigns to defend an increasingly Muslim working class and the object of Islamophobic hatred on the part of its ruling classes. In the specific case of the United Kingdom, the growing role of the Muslim population in its working class must be added to that of immigrant minorities, largely from its former colonies, remembering that in the case of the population of Pakistani origin, it brings together both tendencies.
The defeat of imperialist maneuvers in the Hindustani subcontinent could well be a heavy defeat for imperialism, which, while aiming to strengthen the Chinese workers’ state, allows for an anti-imperialist unity of all the peoples of Hindustan and the motorization of a wave of solidarity against Islamophobia at the international level that would give a decisive boost to the reconstruction of proletarian internationalism, all as part of a struggle for a federation of socialist republics of Hindustan that would undoubtedly be a gigantic advance in the triumph of the world revolution.
