Indian patrols in Tri-Junction area pre-empting Chinese road building (above: Chinese bunkers at nearby Nathu La pass)
By Ajai Shukla
Business Standard, 30th Jun 17
A physical confrontation between Chinese
and Indian troops on the Sikkim-Tibet border has grabbed headlines in India
after television channels played out a video recording of soldiers pushing and
jostling each other during a patrol clash on June 17.
Business Standard learns from a usually
reliable source on the ground that the clash was unusually acrimonious.
Contacted for verification, army spokespersons
declined to comment. The ministry of external affairs, too, at a briefing on
Thursday on the prime minister’s impending visit to Israel and the G-20,
declined to answer questions.
While pushing and shoving is routine during
patrol confrontations between Indian and Chinese patrols, no shots have been
exchanged since India and China signed an “Agreement on the Maintenance of
Peace and Tranquillity on the Line of Actual Control (LAC)” in September 1993.
The last fatal battle casualties on the LAC occurred in 1975, when four Assam
Rifles jawans were shot dead by Chinese troops in the Mago area of Tawang, in
Arunachal Pradesh.
The patrol clash took place in the disputed
“Tri-junction” area, where the borders of India (Sikkim), Bhutan and China join
together. This is the high-altitude Dolam Plateau (Sinicized to “Doklam” by the
Chinese), on which all three countries have territory. The incident reportedly
took place on the Doko La ridge in the area.
The Indian Army chief, General Bipin Rawat,
visited Sikkim on Thursday to personally assess the situation.
The war of words gathered steam on
Thursday, when the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) spokesperson, Colonel Wu
Qian, was asked for a response to General Rawat’s statement earlier this month
that India was “fully ready” for a simultaneous war against China and Pakistan.
Qian responded: “We hope [that] particular
person in [the] Indian Army could learn from historical lessons and stop
clamouring for war.”
For India, the Sikkim border, including the
Tri-junction, is extremely sensitive since a Chinese breakthrough here could
reach, and block, the Siliguri corridor – a narrow, 27-kilometres wide strip of
Indian territory that connects the entire north east with the rest of India.
Chinese control over the Siliguri corridor could cut off the entire northeast.
To prevent this, India guards Sikkim
heavily with two mountain divisions. A third division remains ready in wartime
to guard Bhutan’s western border with China, so that Chinese troops cannot
outflank Sikkim’s defences through Bhutan.
If China extracts more territory in the Tri-junction
area, that would shorten the distance to Siliguri. It would also widen the
mouth of the Chumbi Valley – a dagger-shaped salient of Chinese territory that
protrudes southwards.
While the Indian army has safeguarded the
Sikkim border, even through a major firefight in nearby Nathu La in1967,
Chinese forces have systematically encroached into Bhutanese territory. This is
done through a time-tested method of first sending in yak graziers with their
herds, building temporary shelters, then military bunkers, and then citing
those to claim ownership over the entire areas. Finally, a road is built to
that area.
While the Indian army has remained silent
over the recent incident, Beijing has been unusually vocal. On Monday, its
foreign ministry spokesperson, while announcing the suspension of the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra pilgrimage through nearby Nathu La, revealed: “Recently, the Indian
border troops crossed the China-India boundary at the Sikkim section and
entered the Chinese territory, obstructing Chinese border troops' normal
activities in Doklam. The Chinese side has taken proportionate measures in
response.”
On Tuesday, Beijing put out a detailed
rationale for its claim over Dolam, basing it on the “Convention Between Great
Britain and China Relating to Sikkim and Tibet”, dated 1890. Beijing claimed
that India had accepted this rationale during the Special Representatives
Dialogue.
On Wednesday, the Chinese foreign ministry noted
that this clash was substantially different from clashes elsewhere on the LAC,
in that the Sikkim boundary was clearly delineated. He said: “The Indian border
troops overstepped the mutually recognized boundary line at the Sikkim section
and crossed into the Chinese territory. That is essentially different from
previous fictions (frictions) between the two troops (sic) in the border areas
where the boundary is yet to be delimited.”
On Wednesday, Bhutan entered the fray.
Since it does not have diplomatic relations with China, Bhutan’s envoy to India,
Vetsop Namgyel, declared: “Doklam is a disputed territory and Bhutan has a
written agreement with China that, pending the final resolution of the boundary
issue, peace and tranquillity should be maintained in the area.”
China, which has been long irked by
Bhutan’s closeness to India on matters relating to China, responded “The
Donglang area belonged to China since ancient times and it doesn't belong to
Bhutan. India wants to raise an issue with this part. I should say it doesn't
belong to Bhutan, nor it belongs to India.”
Reminiscent of 60s, when Nehru 'ordered' the army to throw out the Chinese. We mustn't provoke anyone, much less the Chinese, to please Trump or even Modi+Shah. None of these guys will pay the price.They simply don't have 'skin in the game'. In fact, Modi will only benefit from it, which ever way it goes.
ReplyDeleteWe cannot contain/control chinese or Pakistan 's behaviour.
ReplyDeleteIt is well known in politics any "peace treaty" is just time period to prepare for war.
Ten years of congress government has destroyed our war preparedness . This even while pakistan built solid bunkers in the west and china its infrastructure.
Nothing was decided from assault rifles to howitzers to fighter to helicopters to submarines.
I hope the ministers and the then MoD babus are punished for dereliction of duty.
If ministers were sitting on decisions or cancelling RFQs on anonymous reasons it is the duty of secretary of defence to bring to notice of the parliament .
Now the armed forces fight with what we have.
Again, the 60's would have turned out different if the Air Force was involved in a strategic way. China has expanded into Bhutan without firing bullets and will eventually pose a threat to India's "Chicken Neck", if not already. While war-mongering is no what is needed, letting guests claim the guest room as their own will only lead to disputes over the living room.
ReplyDeleteDear Shuklaji.
ReplyDeleteChinese statement that " India should learn from historical'''''" is in fact an acceptance and assertion of the fact that what ever Chinese have today in Tibet and with the boundary with India is a result of military aggression, violence and application of force rather than on any moral or diplomatic mutually agreed grounds. Consequent to the diplomatic and military disaster of 1962 India has not accepted their adverse possession specially of the claimed Indian territory astride the borders. Chinese intentions with respect to Sikkim are also clearly adversarial as proved by their actions in Northern plateau (karang), skirmishes around Indian passes and their boundary dispute with respect to Bhutan in spite of the border being mutually delimited. They have been poking and troubling Bhutan to grab favorable military position vis a vis India by grabbing territory along border with India. Chinese are not trustworthy with respect of agreements or treaties. India must not yield to such military threat or coercion.
@Alok Asthana
ReplyDeleteSince when have you joined Global Times of China as their commentetor
@let asthana sahab benefit from it.
ReplyDelete