Tiger and if you are double lucky, the tiger will come close to your jeep, even kill a harmless dog and walk away. And then, there are times when the wild cat actually walks out of the forest. It happened some weeks ago. A few miles outside the park at a popular cafe, a tigress walked in the dead of the night to reclaim her kill, an antelope. The owner of the Honk Cafe, a lovely eatery which runs on land owned by Ranthambhore tiger god Fatah Singh Rather saw the wild cat but was not surprised. She just switched off the lights and allowed the wildlife wardens to take away the carcass. The bottom line: You never get a guarantee to see the tigers in a forest. The big cats surface only if they want. It is their home, their land. While inaugurating a slew of border infrastructure projects, defense minister Rajah Singh has said that the possibility of any kind of conflict can be ruled out in the current uncertain environment. Singh was referring to the ongoing LAC standoff with China that began last year. He is right in his assessment that India should be prepared for any conflict scenario because the political situation in China will remain sensitive till the 20th Chinese Communist Party CCP Congress next. And given the internal machinations of the CCP with President Xi Jinxing trying to secure a historic third term, more adverse events at the India China border cannot be ruled out. While shoring up the country defense capabilities and border infrastructure is vital, meeting the China challenge it is actually the China Pakistan challenge given Islamabad belligerence too also requires an all of government and society approach. And for this it is necessary to ensure that politics does become a national security liability.