Asian cats, Western monkeys | The Indian Express

Asian cats, Western monkeys | The Indian Express

Written by Sanjaya Baru |Updated: August 27, 2019 12:11:32 am

The writer is Distinguished Fellow, Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis, New Delhi.

Asian cats, Western monkeys

Across Asia, focus is turning to multiple geopolitical quarrels. Western powers are back in play, arbitrating.

Major Asian powers have a responsibility towards the continent as a whole.

One story from the Panchatantra which holds a lesson for students of geopolitics and international relations is that of the clever monkey and the quarrelling cats. Seeking to arbitrate between two cats fighting over some leftovers, the monkey brings in a weighing scale to ensure equal division. Finding one part of the cake bigger than the other, the monkey takes a bite of the bigger slice to make them equal. Finding it has bitten off too much, it takes a bite of the other side to ensure balance. And so it goes on, till the entire cake is devoured.