[dartharva]

India never had that choice, because forced order in the magnitude of China is practically impossible for the country for a vast variety of reasons too many to list down. Suffice to say there can be no comparison between PRC's federal admin that holds absolute power over every inch of its territory, and India's that barely survives each year.

For India, the choice was either an endless cycle of balkanization, bloodshed and anarchy à la Sub-Saharan Africa with a mild possibility of some of the states eventually thriving economically, or an inherited weak but held-together nation-state with a bit more negotiating power in the world stage.