Shekhar Gupta: Fantasy called expansionism

India, China, and Pakistan all want territory from another. But it's a pursuit doomed to fail as they can't get it without annihilating the other

Addressing the troops on his surprise Friday morning visit to Ladakh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took care not to name China. But he left no guesswork as to where his message was directed when he said that the era of expansionism was over and that this was time for development.

This was directed at China. But it is one of those fine lines of pragmatic wisdom that could also be directed at Pakistan or even at ourselves. I know the risks in my going that far, but let’s expand on the thought.

China’s expansionism under Xi Jinping is a globally