:: Editorial

China: As unease grows, act firmly

Sept.16 : The government on Tuesday officially denied as "factually incorrect" a media report that a fortnight ago two jawans of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police were injured in firing by Chinese soldiers from across the Line of Actual Control in northern Sikkim. After the 1962 boundary skirmish, the undefined border has been on the whole quiet, and New Delhi and Beijing have in place reasonably steady arrangements to keep it "tranquil" even as the two sides seek to formally demarcate the boundary. The official denial by the external affairs ministry is therefore just as well. But it is not entirely clear if the government is describing as baseless any injury caused to our soldiers, or the fact of firing itself from the Chinese side. It will be gratifying if the latter is the case as that would suggest absence of attempt to disturb the tranquility agreement.

There is no question, however, that a degree of unease has been building up in the country on account of regular media reports in the past two years alluding to aggressive border patrolling by the Chinese side and literally a couple of thousand instances of Chinese incursions into the Indian side. Perhaps some of this is unavoidable as the actual position of the Line of Actual Control is not always wholly clear on the ground, and the Chinese side may well also speak of Indian troops straying into their area. This is likely in the eastern sector — the site of the 1962 fighting — since Beijing rejects the McMahon Line as a colonial legacy. Even so, in January 2008, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was on a visit to China, then external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee had noted that Chinese incursions do indeed occur but these were appropriately dealt with as the two countries had a working system of consultation between them. Earlier this month, however, reports surfaced of Chinese soldiers entering into the Ladakh sector where the border demarcations are quite clear, and of even inscribing their country’s name on a rock. The Chinese foreign office flatly denied the report and the Indian side played it down, with external affairs minister S.M. Krishna drawing attention to the mechanism between the two sides to deal with such matters. He also observed that the demarcation line with China was "one of the peaceful boundaries we have". The observation may have been an avoidable diplomatic excess. An expert of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, on the other hand, noted that additional Indian deployments in the border regions could give rise to "regional tension". This is possibly a reference to India’s decision to build roads and other infrastructure in the areas near the Chinese border to boost transportation, communications and mobility, to place an Air Force squadron in the eastern sector, and also raise two Army divisions to reinforce defence preparedness. Whatever the diplomatic responses, New Delhi is taking steps to shore up its military presence in the difficult terrain.

The realism this speaks of is welcome. But the government does need to take the necessary steps to persuade China to eschew action that does not go down well with public opinion here. For a democratic country this is important. Statements by ministers and others playing down incidents alone won’t do and may even boomerang in the long run. China is clearly unhappy with India for letting the Dalai Lama visit Arunachal Pradesh which Beijing claims. Beijing has recently also been wary about goings-on in Tibet and Xinjiang, which have contiguity with Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh respectively. For all of these reasons, it may believe that a low-level show of military muscle — through border violations — may serve its purpose as it is clearly not wholly persuaded that India has no intention to cause it any anxiety. New Delhi should seek to reassure Beijing on that count but also spell out, at the political level if necessary, that the Dalai Lama, so long as he avoids anti-China political activities, can travel anywhere within this country.