indian_foxhound
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With Chinas peaceful rise giving way to a
more muscular approach, Beijing has broadened
its core interests and exhibited a growing
readiness to take risks. As if to highlight its new
multi directional assertiveness, Chinas occupation
of a 19-km deep Indian border area close to the strategic Karakoram Pass has coincided with its
escalating challenge to Japans decades-old
control of the Senkaku Islands. China is
aggressively conducting regular patrols to
solidify its sovereignty claims in the South and
East China seas and to furtively enlarge its footprint in the Himalayan borderlands. In this light, it will be a mistake to view the
Chinese intrusion in Ladakh in isolation of the
larger pattern of increasing Chinese assertiveness
that began when Beijing revived its long-
dormant claim to Arunachal Pradesh just before
the 2006 India visit by its president, Hu Jintao. The resurrection of that claim, which was
followed by its provoking territorial spats with
several other neighbours, was the first pointer to
China staking out a more domineering role in
Asia. It was as if China had decided that its
moment has finally arrived. Deep Betrayal Playing a game of chicken, China has been posing
major new challenges to India, ratcheting up
strategic pressure on multiple flanks, including
stepping up cross-border military forays and
shortening the length of the Sino-Indian border
so as to question Indias territorial sovereignty in the eastern and western sectors. It has
repeatedly attempted to breach the Himalayan
border through incursions by taking advantage
of the fact that the frontier is vast and forbidding
and thus difficult to effectively patrol by Indian
forces, who are located in many sections on the lower heights. When an incursion is discovered,
Beijings refrain as in the present episode is
that its troops are on Chinese land. Still, the intrusion into a highly strategic area
shows Indias political and army leadership in
poor light and exposes the countrys floundering
China policy. Along with the subsequent violation of Indian
airspace by Chinese helicopters in Ladakh, it
brings out how China is seeking to alter the
realities on the ground by exploiting Indias
leadership deficit and political disarray, which
have crimped military modernisation and undermined national security. The question the
Indian army leadership must answer is how it
was caught napping in a militarily critical area
where, in the recent past, China repeatedly had
made attempts to encroach on Indian land. Indian Lethargy Instead of regular Indian army troops patrolling
the line of control, border police have been
deployed. The Indo-Tibetan Border
Police personnel, with their defensive training
and mindset, are no match to the aggressive
designs of the Peoples Liberation Army and thus continue to be outwitted by them. Even in
response to the incursion, the government has
sent ITBP and Ladakh Scouts, not regular army
troops, to pitch tents at a safe distance from the
intruders camp. Worse yet, India remains focused on the process
than on the substance of diplomacy, even as
China steps up its belligerence. Process is
important but only if it buys you time to build
countervailing leverage. Unfortunately, a
rudderless India has made little effort to craft such leverage. Rather, New Delhi is playing right
into Chinese hands by merely flaunting the
process of engagement and thereby aiding
Beijings strategy to use this process as cover to
further change the status quo on the ground. Indias defensive and diffident mindset has been
on full display in the latest episode. Not only has it
publicly downplayed an act of naked aggression
the worst Chinese intrusion since the 1986
Sumdorong Chu incursion brought the two
countries to the brink of war but India also insists on going with an outstretched hand to an
adversary still engaged in hostile actions,
unconcerned that it could get the short end of the
stick yet again. Missing Political Will India should be under no illusion that diplomacy
alone will persuade China to withdraw its
soldiers. One way to force Chinas hand would be
for the Indian army to intrude and occupy a
highly strategic area elsewhere across the line of
control and use that gain as a trade-off. More fundamentally, India can maintain border
peace only by leaving China in no doubt that it
has the capability and political will to defend
peace. If the Chinese see an opportunity to nibble
at Indian land, they will seize it. It is for India to
ensure that such opportunities do not arise. In other words, the Himalayan peace ball is very
much in Indias court. India must have a clear
counter-strategy to tame Chinese
aggressiveness. Tibet remains at the core of the
Sino-Indian divide, with Indias growing
strategic ties with the US rankling China. Even as old rifts persist, new issues are roiling the ties. Booming bilateral trade, including a widening
trade surplus in Chinas favour, has failed to
subdue Chinese belligerence. Although in 1962
China set out, in the words of premier, Zhou Enlai,
to teach India a lesson, it has frittered away the
political gains it made by decisively defeating India on the battleground. Indeed, as military
tensions rise and border incidents increase, the
relationship risks coming full circle. Vajpayees Cut To build countervailing leverage, India has little
choice but to slowly reopen the central issue of
Tibet a card New Delhi wholly surrendered at
the altar of diplomacy during the time Atal Bihari
Vajpayee was prime minister. Of course, the
process of surrendering the card began under Jawaharlal Nehru when India in 1954
recognised the Tibet region of China without
any quid pro quo not even Beijings
acceptance of the then prevailing Indo-Tibetan
border. Vajpayees recognition of full Chinese
sovereignty over Tibet was based on Beijings
acknowledgement that Tibet is an autonomous
region in China. The fact that China has squashed
Tibets autonomy creates an opening for India to
take a more nuanced position. More broadly, Chinas string of pearls strategy
can be countered by forming a string of rapiers
with like-minded Asian-Pacific countries. At the
root of the growing tensions and insecurity in
Asia is Chinas ongoing strategy to subvert the
status quo. Only mutually beneficial cooperation can shield Asian peace and economic
renaissance, not muscleflexing and furtive moves.
http://idrw.org/?p=21389
more muscular approach, Beijing has broadened
its core interests and exhibited a growing
readiness to take risks. As if to highlight its new
multi directional assertiveness, Chinas occupation
of a 19-km deep Indian border area close to the strategic Karakoram Pass has coincided with its
escalating challenge to Japans decades-old
control of the Senkaku Islands. China is
aggressively conducting regular patrols to
solidify its sovereignty claims in the South and
East China seas and to furtively enlarge its footprint in the Himalayan borderlands. In this light, it will be a mistake to view the
Chinese intrusion in Ladakh in isolation of the
larger pattern of increasing Chinese assertiveness
that began when Beijing revived its long-
dormant claim to Arunachal Pradesh just before
the 2006 India visit by its president, Hu Jintao. The resurrection of that claim, which was
followed by its provoking territorial spats with
several other neighbours, was the first pointer to
China staking out a more domineering role in
Asia. It was as if China had decided that its
moment has finally arrived. Deep Betrayal Playing a game of chicken, China has been posing
major new challenges to India, ratcheting up
strategic pressure on multiple flanks, including
stepping up cross-border military forays and
shortening the length of the Sino-Indian border
so as to question Indias territorial sovereignty in the eastern and western sectors. It has
repeatedly attempted to breach the Himalayan
border through incursions by taking advantage
of the fact that the frontier is vast and forbidding
and thus difficult to effectively patrol by Indian
forces, who are located in many sections on the lower heights. When an incursion is discovered,
Beijings refrain as in the present episode is
that its troops are on Chinese land. Still, the intrusion into a highly strategic area
shows Indias political and army leadership in
poor light and exposes the countrys floundering
China policy. Along with the subsequent violation of Indian
airspace by Chinese helicopters in Ladakh, it
brings out how China is seeking to alter the
realities on the ground by exploiting Indias
leadership deficit and political disarray, which
have crimped military modernisation and undermined national security. The question the
Indian army leadership must answer is how it
was caught napping in a militarily critical area
where, in the recent past, China repeatedly had
made attempts to encroach on Indian land. Indian Lethargy Instead of regular Indian army troops patrolling
the line of control, border police have been
deployed. The Indo-Tibetan Border
Police personnel, with their defensive training
and mindset, are no match to the aggressive
designs of the Peoples Liberation Army and thus continue to be outwitted by them. Even in
response to the incursion, the government has
sent ITBP and Ladakh Scouts, not regular army
troops, to pitch tents at a safe distance from the
intruders camp. Worse yet, India remains focused on the process
than on the substance of diplomacy, even as
China steps up its belligerence. Process is
important but only if it buys you time to build
countervailing leverage. Unfortunately, a
rudderless India has made little effort to craft such leverage. Rather, New Delhi is playing right
into Chinese hands by merely flaunting the
process of engagement and thereby aiding
Beijings strategy to use this process as cover to
further change the status quo on the ground. Indias defensive and diffident mindset has been
on full display in the latest episode. Not only has it
publicly downplayed an act of naked aggression
the worst Chinese intrusion since the 1986
Sumdorong Chu incursion brought the two
countries to the brink of war but India also insists on going with an outstretched hand to an
adversary still engaged in hostile actions,
unconcerned that it could get the short end of the
stick yet again. Missing Political Will India should be under no illusion that diplomacy
alone will persuade China to withdraw its
soldiers. One way to force Chinas hand would be
for the Indian army to intrude and occupy a
highly strategic area elsewhere across the line of
control and use that gain as a trade-off. More fundamentally, India can maintain border
peace only by leaving China in no doubt that it
has the capability and political will to defend
peace. If the Chinese see an opportunity to nibble
at Indian land, they will seize it. It is for India to
ensure that such opportunities do not arise. In other words, the Himalayan peace ball is very
much in Indias court. India must have a clear
counter-strategy to tame Chinese
aggressiveness. Tibet remains at the core of the
Sino-Indian divide, with Indias growing
strategic ties with the US rankling China. Even as old rifts persist, new issues are roiling the ties. Booming bilateral trade, including a widening
trade surplus in Chinas favour, has failed to
subdue Chinese belligerence. Although in 1962
China set out, in the words of premier, Zhou Enlai,
to teach India a lesson, it has frittered away the
political gains it made by decisively defeating India on the battleground. Indeed, as military
tensions rise and border incidents increase, the
relationship risks coming full circle. Vajpayees Cut To build countervailing leverage, India has little
choice but to slowly reopen the central issue of
Tibet a card New Delhi wholly surrendered at
the altar of diplomacy during the time Atal Bihari
Vajpayee was prime minister. Of course, the
process of surrendering the card began under Jawaharlal Nehru when India in 1954
recognised the Tibet region of China without
any quid pro quo not even Beijings
acceptance of the then prevailing Indo-Tibetan
border. Vajpayees recognition of full Chinese
sovereignty over Tibet was based on Beijings
acknowledgement that Tibet is an autonomous
region in China. The fact that China has squashed
Tibets autonomy creates an opening for India to
take a more nuanced position. More broadly, Chinas string of pearls strategy
can be countered by forming a string of rapiers
with like-minded Asian-Pacific countries. At the
root of the growing tensions and insecurity in
Asia is Chinas ongoing strategy to subvert the
status quo. Only mutually beneficial cooperation can shield Asian peace and economic
renaissance, not muscleflexing and furtive moves.
http://idrw.org/?p=21389
