China is not trustworthy

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In what could be called a huge breakthrough, India and China have reached an agreement on resuming patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. The patrolling had stopped since the 2020 Galwan clash.

Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri informed the media on Monday that as a result of the discussions that have taken place over the last several weeks an agreement has been arrived at on patrolling arrangements along the line of actual control in the India-China border area and this is leading to dis-engagement and eventually a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held bilateral talks regarding the border standoff between the two countries, first time since China’s military misadventure on the Galwan heights in May 2020 and a full resolution has not yet been achieved, even though the two sides have disengaged from several friction points.

But the Indian Army has reacted cautiously to the development, understandably so. A day after India announced border patrolling agreement with China, Indian Army chief Upendra Dwivedi said that India was trying to restore the trust with China. That would happen once both the armies are able to see each other and are able to convince that both sides are not creeping into buffer zones that have been created.

He also mentioned that ongoing patrolling activities provide a chance for both sides to reassure one another. Once the trust is restored, the other stages would also follow through soon.

The emphasis by Indian Army chief was on the word “trust”. This shows that Indian Army is not at all taking the announcements of disengagement by China on face value, because it has a history of betrayal. China is a sly character and can’t be trusted at all.

Post-Galwan conflict with Chinese forces in 2020, India has been aggressively readying itself to counter the Dragon through diplomatically and militarily, backed with infrastructure built-up along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). India has been increasing its deployment against China in all three sectors— the northern, central and eastern sectors.

More recently, the Indian government had to free a strong contingent of 10,000 soldiers—previously deployed at its western border—to strengthen its disputed border with China amid soured relations with Beijing after the June 2020 standoff between the two countries at the Galwan area of Eastern Ladakh.

India is also deploying special weapon systems like the indigenously built Light Combat Helicopter, Prachand for deployment on high altitude, mainly to counter the Chinese army in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh.

With an eye on Ladakh, DRDO has begun testing indigenous light tank, Zorawar, to counter China’s ZTQ-15 light tanks, which weigh just 33-tonnes (36 tonnes with additional slap-on armour), move through the 14,000-foot-high valleys with far greater ease.

China agreeing to talk peace with India is not without reason. It has surely noticed these measures taken by India thwart any future misadventure. Economically also, India is outperforming China, with many multinational companies, like Apple, shifting their manufacturing base to India.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised its forecast for China's growth this year down slightly to 4.8 percent on Tuesday, warning that a persistent downturn in the real estate sector could potentially worsen. That is less than the Chinese government’s “around 5%” target for 2024-25 fiscal.

Meanwhile the IMF has kept its growth forecasts for India unchanged at 7 per cent and 6.5 per cent for FY25 and FY26, respectively. This itself speaks about the present ground reality.

On political front, China's role in causing and spreading Covid and its aggressive posturing against its neighbours haven’t helped Dragon’s cause.

Moreover, China is worried about the growing bonhomie between India and the US, with the latter wanting to arm India to counter China in South Asia.

This is the golden opportunity for India to go full throttle to strengthen its eastern and western frontiers, because a two-front war, with China and Pakistan on one side, is a looming threat.

Since long, China has been trying to surround India by investing in its neighbouring countries and then putting them in a debt trap, like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives and of course Pakistan.

It has not stopped claiming Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh as its territories. The long-standing border dispute between the two countries could translate into a full-fledged aggression from China sooner or later, which could be stronger than the one in Galwan. India can’t get complacent now.

According to reports, China is stoking fire in the North East by supporting the militant groups, operating from Myanmar.

India must fast-track its military modernisation programme by mixing imports of modern weapon systems with indigenous production. At the same time the government should strengthen the economy further. Peace initiatives are always welcome. But it is aptly said that peace can only be achieved if one is militarily and economically strong.

Herald Goa
www.heraldgoa.in