China does not recognise the 1914 McMahon Line agreed between the British and the then Tibetan rulers and claims 90,000 sq km of territory, that includes nearly all of Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. India and China fought a deadly war in 1962 during which thousands of people perished on both sides.
Besides, Arunachal Pradesh, China also disputes the border in mountainous Ladakh region of Kashmir. China has also repeatedly objected to India’s refuge to Buddhist spiritual leader Dalai Lama, whom China accuses of fomenting trouble in Tibet.
Of late there has been hard posturing from the Chinese side. The Chinese army carried out series of incursions in Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim besides its air force was accused by Indian government of violating the Indian air space. The Chinese government recently objected the visit of Buddhist spiritual leader, Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh.
Dalai Lama was on five-day visit to Arunachal Pradesh during which he said that China is unnecessarily politicizing his visit.
Reacting to Dalai Lama’s visit Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said his country was strongly dissatisfied with India for allowing him to visit the disputed region.
“India had ignored requests to halt the trip to Arunachal Pradesh by the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader. The Indian side disregarded the solemn position of China in allowing the Dalai Lama to visit the disputed area of the eastern section of the China-India border region," Qin told a regular news briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.
Beijing has accused Dalai Lama of trying to poison the neighbours' relationship and trying to undermine China.
In another development, a researcher at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, Hu Shisheng, in a report published in China’s state-run newspaper Global Times said that India seems to have forgotten the lessons of 1962 war.
“India may have forgotten the lesson of 1962, when its repeated provocation resulted in military clashes. India is on this wrong track again. When the conflict gets sharper and sharper, the Chinese government will have to face it and solve it in a way India has designed,” Hu said.
The Chinese comments on the 1962 war have evoked strong reaction from Indian government. “India has come a long way since 1962. Talks of India not learning a lesson are silly,” India’s Junior Foreign Minister Shashi Tharoor said.
Slamming the Chinese media for its ‘jingoism’, the Indian minister said the Chinese media there is being irresponsible in escalating tensions. “The history does not repeat itself that easily”.
On Dalai Lama’s visit, he said, “The Buddhist spiritual leader is free to travel anywhere in India. He has to visit his flock as he sees fit”.
The present tension prevailing between India and China has worried the political observers. They feel that China facing economic depression may resort to ‘military adventure’ against India. “There is every probability that China, which is facing domestic pressure owing to economic depression, may carry out small scale military adventure against India,” said a political science teacher of University of Kashmir, highest seat of learning in Kashmir.
Terming the threat from China as ‘real’, he said the present Chinese political situation is not a good omen for Indian government. “The Chinese government is having a closer relationship with India’s arch foe, Pakistan and is also building roads and water projects in Pakistan administered Kashmir, which India claims to be its territory. China may open second front for India and this will be tricky situation for world’s largest democracy,” he said.
The former Indian National Security Advisor, Brajesh Mishra in a recent interview to an Indian television channel said, “Since 1962 we have two fronts – one is China and the other is Pakistan. But then, the two have never worked together. In 1962, we fought a war with China, then in 1965 and 1971 with Pakistan. Then Kargil happened in 1999. But now both these fronts are simultaneously striking a hostile posture. These two nations are now trying to surround India.”
He claimed that India is not in a position as far as defence preparedness is concerned to defend even one of these fronts. “I think, we should equip our forces as soon as possible. Our forces should be properly equipped. We are not doing enough in this regard at the moment and I am afraid that in the next five years we might get a bigger jolt than ’62.”
Some retired Indian army men in Kashmir also feel that India needs to beef up its defence preparedness to counter any threat from China and Pakistan. “We have to be ready for any sort of eventuality. The enemy should not catch us off-guard,” said a retired army officer. (The author is a journalist based in Indian administered Kashmir and can be reached at: fayazwani123@gmail.com)
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