Democracy sleeps.
Totalitarian regimes whip all into action!
I don't completely agree. I think India is still a relatively young democracy. Moreover, the great number of problems (poverty,corruption, religious conflict, wars) that India has had to deal with has taken its toll. We inherited a lot of systematic problems from the British also.
I think a good example of a successful democracy (at least in terms of national defence, most of the time) is the US. Afghanistan is nowhere near the American borders, yet the US supplied weapons to the Mujahideen to weaken the Soviet empire, and it worked (ofcourse it was short-sighted of them to not finish the job of fully implementing democracy in Afghanistan, but that's another story). The US cares only about its self-interest; and this is one lesson India needs to learn.
I believe that at least strategically, India would've benefited from providing weapons and training to the people of Tibet and Xinjiang for their independence movements, for the following reasons:
1) India would've had nothing to lose by doing so. China is already planning a military campaign against India (otherwise they would not have started calling Arunachal Pradesh Southern Tibet).
2) It would've slowed down the Chinese plans for a military takeover of Indian border areas, as they would've been busy fighting the independence movements.
3) Even when the Chinese did attack, the rebels could've cut off their supply lines (and this is much easier to do via asymmetrical warfare from behind enemy lines in the Himalayan terrain of these regions, than it is for conventional military weapons like fighter jets).
4) Were the revolutions to succeed, with the Dalai Lama having friendly relations with India for so long, India would've had a friendly neighbor in the north. And since the Dalai Lama is pro-democracy, independent Tibet would've been a democracy similar to Bhutan. The only wild-card would be the Uighurs, but it's doubtful they would be nearly as bad as the Chinese.
Anyhow, I thought I'd just explain the method behind my mad strategy. LOL
Unfortunately our government does not have the wherewithal to carry it out, plus the reality on the ground is very different.