Chinese Dragon
Speaking in Parliament, Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister said that ‘on December 9 ( 2022) the PLA tried to transgress the LAC in the Yangtse area of Tawang. The Chinese attempt was fought off and the Indian Army bravely prevented the PLA from transgressing into our territory. The two sides have since had a flag meeting and the Chinese side was asked to refrain from such actions.’
It is presumed that in Yangtse, the Chinese wanted a 17,000 ft peak which provides excellent views of the road connecting Tawang with the Se La Pass, the main supply line from the plains to the Tawang area. I had a good chance to personally see Tawang area during my army attachment in 1975.
China has been a difficult riddle for India for the past seven decades. In 1962, China inflicted a crushing defeat upon India and during that time it occupied about thirty eight thousand square kilometre area known as Aksai Chin in Ladakh. Meteoric economic rise of China further complicated the situation. For a very long time India had to ignore its defence buildup and strategic infrastructure on the border because of lack of funds and resources. India refused to grow in its first four decades in proportion to its potential. China has taken full advantage of it and its over five times bigger economy than Indian has produced a world-class military. Its all-weather friendship with Pakistan and providing it with nuclear capacity is meant to contain India. China encouraged Pakistan to perennially weaken India by war and terrorism. At one time India was so timid and frustrated that it left the Himalayas without any defence infrastructure by justifying that our roads in mountains may be used by Chinese to descend on Indian plains.
In 90s India and China entered into agreements for not using firearms on LAC but China refused to agree to demarcate the International border or LAC. China kept on meddling on undefined LAC and resorted to what has come to be termed as salami slicing. Modi government which loves to be looked as a strong nationalistic government started giving attention to defence preparedness and infrastructure on Sino-India border. It has not gone well with China. It has stepped up its war preparedness in Tibet. There is no denying that there is a huge differential in military might of China and India. However, India has somehow put all its efforts on LAC to at least offer a strong and equal resistance to China in short engagements.
In India we have to be very certain that for a long time to come China will not allow India to remain in peace. China is strongly asserting in all directions. Within a very short time, it has altered the situation in South China Sea and has become unchallengeable in those waters. US sees China as its only future rival and has come out with initiatives like Quad and some strategic support to allies including India. But US is not going to fight a war for India. India has to develop its own defence capabilities which is only possible by evolving a very strong economy. If we fail on the economic front, we will have to play the second fiddle to China. At present India has only diplomatic option of creating subtle and overt alliances. India has to maintain its internal cohesiveness.
Modi government has refused to discuss Chinese intrusion in Parliament. Modi is the strong face and a vote catching machine for BJP. Any slip of words in such a debate can be devastating to the party. It is precisely for this reason that now a feeble Congress wants a discussion in Parliament. The Congress is more interested in showing Modi as a weak and terrified leader against China. A debate in Parliament will definitely be informative to the nation, but it would be naive to expect that any such noisy debate would strengthen our borders or our fighting capabilities against China. China will always push India to keep it confused and off balance.
Though highly improbable, It would be far more prudent if the ruling and the opposition parties sit together quietly and objectively formulate a long-term defence strategy. The parties will come and go in governments, but the national interest would always remain the same.
