China
has come up again with another example of its policy of creating
military or political obstacles, whenever there is a scheduled meet
of high level dignitaries between India and China. Readers might
recall that about a week before former Chinese president Hu Jinto was
to make a crucial visit to India in November 2006, Chinese Ambassador
to India, Sun Yuxi made a most controversial statement claiming
aggressively that the state of Arunachal Pradesh in India was a part
of China. It made headlines immediately and became a huge row and it
appeared that the visit of the president itself might be put in
jeopardy. It turned out later that Sun's statement not only did shock
India, it took the mandarins in Beijing also by surprise. The Chinese
Foreign Ministry began damage control, clarifying to the Indian
Embassy in Beijing, "that China had not instructed Ambassador
Sun to speak on the border issue" and that his statement had
taken them by surprise. Eventually the visit went through smoothly.
The
same story was repeated
this year when In a somewhat similar way, People's Liberation
Army(PLA) of China created a major border incident by an incursion in
the Depsang plains area of Ladakh, as a most unlikely ground
preparation for the visit of India's foreign affairs minister and
subsequent visit of Chinese new Premier Li Keqiang, scheduled in May
2013. It is therefore no surprise at all that on the day,when
India's defense minister A.K. Antony arrived in China on a three-day
visit, aimed at boosting strategic trust, a People’s Liberation
Army (PLA) Major General warned India not to “provoke new
problems” and “stir up” trouble through its plans to increase
deployments along the border.
Major
General Luo Yuan, is a military scholar of the PLA’s Academy of
Military Sciences and is known for his particularly hawkish views on
military affairs. He told reporters at an interaction at the All
China Journalists’ Association on eve of Indian defense minister's
visit; “It is up to India to not stir up new trouble. There is no
denying there are tensions and problems between China and India,
particularly in border areas. There is still the problem of 90,000 sq
km of territory that is occupied by the Indian side (Obviously
referring to Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh). I think these
are problems left over from history and we should look at these
problems with a cool head. Particularly, the Indian side should not
provoke new problems and increase military deployment at the border
area, and stir up new trouble.” He further added: “ India is the
only country in the world which says that it is developing military
power because of China’s military threat. So I believe India should
be very cautious in what it does and what it says.” Blaming India
for the recent troubles he says: “ At the current moment the whole
situation was still under control, particularly after Premier Li
Keqiang’s visit to India in May which “enhanced” relations. So
generally speaking, I think the situation is under control and it is
up to India to not stir up new trouble.”
China
continues to deploy a huge number of soldiers on Indian borders.
According to one
estimate, China has deployed 13 Border Defence Regiments
amounting to around 300,000 PLA troops on the border with India,.
Airfields have also been established at Hoping, Pangta and Kong Ka
respectively, along with the existing six airfields in the Tibetan
Autonomous Region for supporting fighter aircrafts and to enhance
PLA’s airlift capability. It has also upgraded its own military
presence in Tibet very close to the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh. The
2010 US Department of Defense Report to Congress indicated that China
replaced its old liquid fueled, nuclear capable CSS-3 intermediate
range ballistic missile with “more advanced CSS-5 MRBMs” and
vastly improved its border roads in the eastern sector bordering
India for PLA movement. Intercontinental missiles such as the DF-31
and DF-31A have also been deployed by China at Delingha, north of
Tibet.
With
this background, Major General Luo Yuan's warning appears to be a a
case of crying wolf and should be just neglected. Perhaps many other
in China also think so. Indian News paper 'The Hindu ' reports:
“Shen
Dingli, a strategic affairs scholar at the elite Fudan University in
Shanghai, told this newspaper that the Depsang incident would have
some impact on the visit, but added that “this is not up to the
generals and defence officials to resolve. It is up to …
politicians.” He also said that current border mechanisms in place
were “not sufficient.” “There should be joint patrols, promises
not to enter certain jointly designated areas. Then military
[personnel] will not have a chance to meet together at all, or they
can patrol together to build confidence and trust.”
Just
few days back, Yang Jiechi, China's new Special Representative (SR)
met with Indian National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, his
counterpart on the boundary negotiations, at the Diaoyutai State
Guesthouse in central Beijing. He mentioned to the reporters that he
was ready to “break new ground” with India on the long-running
border negotiations.
Major
General Luo Yuan's comments highlight the persisting mistrust between
the military establishments of the two countries and from Indian
point of view present a grave danger in spite of surprisingly
moderate views of some Chinese thinkers and diplomats, which in
practical terms means that India can not allow slackening of the
efforts on its borders with China in spite of diplomatic bonhomie.
5
July 2013
No comments:
Post a Comment