It was a piece of intelligence worthy of what the Russians call the “tournament of shadows”, when the great powers of the era – London and St Petersburg – vied over central Asia more than a century ago. Then, maps and mavericks determined who held sway over a North-West Frontier that today has mutated into a battleground between ebbing US and surging Chinese influence. And the claim came from the top of the Indian military establishment.
100多年前,當(dāng)時(shí)的強(qiáng)國——大英帝國和沙皇俄國——為爭奪中亞控制權(quán)展開博弈。在這場被俄國人稱為“影子比武”(tournament of shadows)的競賽中,最有價(jià)值的就是情報(bào)。當(dāng)時(shí),地圖和敢于冒險(xiǎn)的怪才決定著誰能控制西北邊境省(North-West Frontier)。如今,這一地區(qū)已變成影響力漸弱的美國與影響力激增的中國之間的“戰(zhàn)場”。而這一說法來自印度軍方最高層。