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| Sino-India Relations and Ladakh Stand-Off | | | Muneesh Chopra
The vision of ‘New India’ under the Prime Ministership of Sh Narendra Modi includes the departure of erstwhile foreign policy of India from ‘defensive’ to ‘offensive defense’ strategy to deal with the ‘expansionist designs’ of China. Today’s Bharat is known for giving utmost importance to its national interests as well as to protect its territorial integrity and sovereignty, at any cost, against any foreign aggression which we have seen in the recent Sino-India standoff. In 2013, the former Defense Minister A K Antony admitted the historical fact of India’s foreign policy towards China in the Parliament that ‘undeveloped’ border with China would be more safer than the ‘developed’ border, that’s why ‘close to zero’ construction of infrastructure (i.e. roads and airstrips) along the border especially in the state of Arunachal Pradesh and the Ladakh region was adopted by various previous governments since independence. But on the contrary, China has not adopted the identical policy of ‘undeveloped border’ with India rather it built heavy infrastructure near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) since 1950s.
Modi government has shown displeasure to such policies which were aimed to please China. His government has initiated and propagated the several projects related to the development of infrastructure near the LAC to strengthen the military capabilities of 21st century Bharat. In the region of Eastern Ladakh, Modi government has constructed several roads near the LAC especially the strategically important road off the Darbuk-Shyok-Daulet Beg Oldie and another one on the north bank of Pangong Tso Lake which triggered China to escalate in the territory of India on May 05, 2020. In the continuance of pursuit, Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) transgressed the areas of Kugrang Nala, Gogra and north bank of Pangong Tso Lake in Ladakh on May 17-18, 2020. India retaliated aggressively and amidst the de-escalation process, on the 15-16 June midnight clashes between PLA and Indian Army occurred in which 20 Indian soldiers were martyred after killing more than 40 Chinese soldiers.
In addition to military measures, Bharat banned 59 Chinese apps in the month of July 2020 and 118 Chinese apps in the month of September 2020 under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act after receiving complaints related to data privacy, unauthorized data transferring and security issues. It was a major blow to China’s ‘Digital Silk Route’ dreams as it also motivated other countries to act against Chinese IT companies. Furthermore, Chinese companies have been kept out from 5G trials in India.
On July 05, 2020, the special representatives of India and China on the Boundary Question – Ajit Doval and Wang Yi held virtual talks to resolve the standoff diplomatically. Both the leaders agreed that peace and tranquility in the border region is essential for further development of bilateral relations and disengagement of troops along the border is essential to maintain peace in the region adjoining LAC. But China did not follow the agreed terms and on August 29 and 30, 2020 Chinese PLA tried to occupy the ridge lines beyond Finger 8 on the Northern Bank of Pangong Tso which was forestalled by the Indian Army by its valor.
In September 2020, fresh round of talks once again were held between Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meet under the framework of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC). Both the leaders agreed on ‘Five-Point Agreement’ which includes measures like quick disengagement of troops, avoiding action that could escalate tensions, adherence to all agreements and protocols on border management, and steps to restore peace along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). In order to fulfill the objectives of disengagement and de-escalation, eight rounds of Corps Commander Level Talks are held till date and planning is underway to hold ninth round of CC level talks. In the foreign ministry-level talks conducted on December 18, 2020, the two sides agreed to continue work towards ensuring complete disengagement of troops in all friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Generally, bilateral or multilateral agreements are signed between the governments or the appointees of the governments in international relations which we call ‘government to government’ agreements or pacts. But it is so unusual that in August, 2008, the then General Secretary of Congress Party, Sh Rahul Gandhi had signed a MoU with the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing to promote exchanges. It is a unique type of pact in the history of Indian politics which was between ‘political parties’ and not between ‘governments’. Before, in 1988, former PM of Sh Rajiv Gandhi visited China and declared ‘Border is negotiable’. Ah! What to say now? Anyways, ‘Aaj Ka Bharat’ is not accepting ‘surrenderist’ policies under the leadership of PM Modi. Belligerent China has territorial disputes with almost all the neighbors and maritime issues with almost all the ASEAN countries. China is trying to impose its ‘so called’ pseudo-hegemony on Taiwan, Tibet and Hongkong. But the present Indian government is pursuing the policy of ‘eye for an eye’ and giving China a taste of its own medicine. But let me conclude by saying that Indian medicine is much bitter than the Chinese one. |
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