That line is always good for a laugh.
For the longest time, the Indians here were high and mighty about "hindi chini bhai bhai" and a joint Asian century against the evil West. Problems with China were minor irritants which would be worked out in due time.
Now that the Indian government and media has come out swinging against China -- just after Hillary asked them to "look east" and be more assertive -- we see Indians beating their chests about confronting China and justifying the confrontation as being in India's interests.
tangential arguments, how does OZ approval of Uranium become part of our look east policy? try using atlas Dev