http://www.rediff.com/news/column/border-crisis-why-china-wont-back-off/20130429.htm
Last updated on: April 29,
2013 08:44 IST
Whether
Salman Khurshid goes to Beijing [ Images ] or cancels the trip, the Chinese won’t return from
their present, newly occupied position, says Tarun Vijay.
I agree that the Chinese
incursion issue must not be hyped and efforts should be made to find a
diplomatic resolution.
I also agree that, in a moment of national
crisis, no politics should be played. The government’s efforts to safeguard the
nation’s boundaries should get unanimous support.
It helps to boost the morale of the armed
forces who are facing a hostile situation in a very uncharitable terrain. They
are our sons, brothers and daughters. They belong to us. They are us.
In a moment of filmi frenzy, we
shouldn’t forget that they listen to and read what we say and write.
India [ Images
] must behave as one unit instead of creating scenes of street fights during
such crises. And I am proud to say, we have always shown the ability to do so;
whether it was 1962 or Kargil [ Images
].
Secondly, 2013 is not 1962.
We are much stronger, people are much more aware
and the soldier is prepared to win a war against the Chinese if the situation
reaches that point.
But a war is not won by comparing the list of
nuclear bombs and other arsenal with the enemy. Wars are won in the minds of
those who have an unflinching commitment to their motherland and a decisive
fire in their heart to punish the wrongdoer foe.
The most significant fuel of
this victory is the ruling political power’s support and leadership, which must
not dither midway.
That is exactly the problem today.
One remembers Indira Gandhi
[ Images
] and Atal Bihari Vajpayee [ Images
], who had resolutely stood behind their armed forces with a steel spine and
given the go-ahead that brought the honour of victory to the nation.
The
Ladakh issue will be resolved, but the political mishandling of the incident
has cost us very dear.
There are strong suspicions that certain
external factors have worked hard to make the matter look graver -- almost as
if an aggression has taken place -- to incite an exchange of fire between the
two forces at Ladakh.
Whose interest would have been served if the
Chinese prime minister’s first visit to India had been cancelled?
Who were shamelessly putting the Indian
soldier at a much inferior level while comparing him to China’s People’s
Liberation Army?
Was that kind of defeatist ranting on
television screens helping the jawan camping before the Chinese at altitudes as
high as 17,000 feet?
The culprit is the nation’s political leadership that has
not concerned itself with ensuring adequate military preparedness.
It is the same lethargic, Nehruvian delusion
that had led ordnance factories in the '50s to make coffee machines and had led
to the utterance of those infamous words at the loss of Aksai China that not a
blade of grass grows there.
It’s a government that fails to protect the
life of an innocent Indian, Sarabjit Singh, while sharing biryani with a savage
country’s prime minister.
It’s a powerless, visionless and aimless
government that dithers when it comes to protecting the honour of its honest
and patriotic surveyor general against the lies of an American mapping agency.
Such
a leadership is an embarrassment to the nation and to the dictionary, which
provides a different meaning to the word ‘leadership’.
Whether Salman Khurshid
goes Beijing or cancels the trip, the Chinese are not returning from their present,
newly occupied position. Their statements are a clear indication of their
attitude.
They feel they are in their territory; that
Indians are making a foolish hue and cry over nothing. In fact, the official
Chinese position holders have said that Indians are fishing in China’s troubled
waters.
It’s
important to read what the official position of the Chinese is on this issue.
The Global Times, the official English language news daily from Beijing
has published a detailed report on the Ladakh incursion quoting three
officials.
The foreign ministry first said it couldn’t verify the matter,
because it doesn’t have the relevant information.
The spokesperson for the foreign ministry
simply dismissed the Indian complaint and sought to portray the issue as a
small matter, saying that in the absence of the final demarcation of the
border, such incidents are inevitable.
But the director of the Center for Arms
Control and Disarmament at the School of International Studies under Peking
University, Han Hua, took an offensive stand and blamed India for ‘fishing in
troubled waters’.
This line has been picked up by the local
twitterati in China. Once again, an anti-Japan like passion against India is
seen to be dominating Chinese social media.
The three comments must be read to
properly assess the tone and tenor of the belligerent Chinese response on an
issue that has aroused so much anger in India.
For the Chinese, the whole
issue is an Indian creation; it is a false accusation; no Chinese has ever
crossed the Line of Actual control. India has unnecessarily hyped this issue,
they feel, that too just before the Chinese prime minister’s Delhi [ Images
] visit which, if it materialises, will be his first foreign trip after
assuming office.
Reaction no 1: When contacted by the Global Times
on Thursday, China's foreign ministry said it couldn't verify the news, as it
doesn't have the relevant information at present.
The Indian embassy in Beijing referred the
inquiry to China's foreign ministry without confirming the report. If verified,
it would be Li's first overseas visit as premier.
Reaction no 2: After
dismissing reports about alleged trespassing by Chinese troops for three days
in a row, on Thursday, Hua Chunying, spokeswoman for China's foreign ministry,
once again refuted accusations that China had provoked border tensions.
"China and India are neighbours. Given
that their lines of demarcation haven't been finalised, it's inevitable that
problems may arise in the border region.
Reaction no 3: Han Hua,
director of the Center for Arms Control and Disarmament at the School of International
Studies under Peking University, told the Global Times that choosing
India as the first stop of the premier's visit shows China's will to improve
ties, but that the current standoff may cast a shadow on the visit.
‘Reports about Chinese troops' cross-border
patrols are not rare in Indian media. However, the latest hyping came at an
inappropriate time before the premier's visit, and it was also inappropriate to
summon the ambassador,’ Han said, adding there had been speculation that New
Delhi may hope to ‘fish in troubled
waters’ as Beijing is caught in an island dispute with Tokyo.
India
loses nothing by showing a little patience and even as she reinforces her
fortification.
But this government is mired in too many
domestic issues and is showing a tendency of ‘giving up’. It needs to hold on
till the next government is chosen more wisely by the electorate but seems to
be incapable of even doing that.
It
is indeed a sad moment in our history.
