A great post by Apollo�on General Deepak Kapoor’s (Chief of Army) recent remarks re. China and incursions across the border:
Excerpts (emphasis mine):
“…Gen Deepak Kapoor has gone on record saying that India can be held equally to blame of intruding into Chinese territory!
�The Chinese have a different perception of the Line Of Actual Control as do we.�When we come up to their perception, we call it incursion and likewise they do.�
His shocking statement that India can be equally blamed for intruding into Chinese territory is based on a presumed logic that …

Thanks to Vidhya for alerting me to this article by Shri Arun Shourie…
It reiterates points that have been made by numerous commentators in the past…
WE APPEAR TO BE SLEEPWALKING INTO A DISASTER

Excerpts from�Shilpa Shetty trumps Arunachal again, Arun Shourie, February 12, ’08 (emphasis mine)
“…November 21, 2007: We were all at the weekly meeting of the BJP members of Parliament. L.K. Advani was presiding. Two of our colleagues represent Arunachal in the Lok Sabha � Tapir Gao and Kiren Rijiju…drew attention to the fact that Chinese incursions into …

Read this eye-opening report on Ladakh by Tarun Vijay in the Times of India in full…(Anirban, thanks for alerting me to this)
Excerpts below:
“…Of late Ladakh has been witnessing a continuous trespassing by Chinese shepherds and soldiers in Chushul area where we fought a famous war of Trishul mountains led by Major Shaitan Singh (who received Param Vir Chakra after his and his brave men’s bodies were discovered one year after their martyrdom) and in the vast grass lands near Demchok.�
…Chinese are known to enter our region in a clandestine manner. …

Now that the niceties are over, it may be time to worry after all…
I am talking of China and this news-item from today: “China’s lack of clarity on LAC angers India”.
Is it a surprise to anyone? But the priceless bit is this:
“…The concern on the Indian side is that these incursions by China are taking place a little more frequently than India is comfortable with” (!)
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry…
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Related Post: Don�t worry, be�happy*� and�a lot more here:
Arunachal: Sleepwalking into a�disaster�
Dancing with the�Dragon�
�Let it be clear. …

Srinivas Bharadwaj, writing in rediff recently, made some great points about the “trashing” of Nano by some in the western media (“Why some US scribes slammed Tata Nano“, Jan 14 ’08)
� Excerpts:
“…Tata Nano is the Model-T of India. It represents…a freedom no different from what Ford brought to the American consumer about a 100 years ago. And yet, it is already being challenged, not so much on price or on technology. It is considered a polluter, a source of global warming, in short, a threat to humanity.
Among its notable critics …

Esteemed Foreign Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee quoted in various reports�talking about the issue of cross-border incursions by China:
Sometimes incursions take place… but there (is) no need to press any “panic button”

Please read:
Arunachal: Sleepwalking into a�disaster�
Dancing with the�Dragon�
�Let it be clear. India and China are strategic rivals��
More avid readers amongst you may find the whole category of China-related posts interesting. Some of you would also love this interview with the Honourable Minister from Nov ’06.
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* with apologies to Meher Baba�and Bobby McFerrin

No doubt most of you must have read this bit of “news” already (emphasis mine):
“….the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday expressed grave concern over reports that the Chinese troops had last month damaged a statue of Buddha inside the Indian border.
…In a written reply, Defence Minister AK Antony said incursions were on account of differing perceptions between New Delhi and Beijing on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). He said such incursions could be avoided if the two countries had common perceptions of the LAC”
Fantastic…So let us all work towards creating …

Came across this thought provoking story in a recent edition of The Economist on China’s military might, “The long march to be a superpower” (Aug 2nd ’07 edition).
Some excerpts (emphasis mine)
“…American global supremacy is not about to be challenged by China’s tinkering with aircraft-carriers…But it would be widely seen as a potent symbol of China’s rise as a military power. Some Chinese officers want to fly the flag ever farther afield as a demonstration of China’s rise. As China emerges as a trading giant (one increasingly dependent on imported oil), …

From an article in �TIME, “China Limits Teenage Internet Gaming“:
“…Under new rules that took effect Monday, Chinese Internet gaming companies must install a program that requires users to enter their ID card numbers.
After three hours, players under 18 are prompted to stop and “do suitable physical exercise.”� If they continue, the software slashes by half any points earned in the game.
All points are wiped out if players stay on more than five hours.”
!!

These two news items were posted within hours of each other on IBN:
First headline:
China is India’s best neighbour: PM� – slightly mis-leading headline…what he actually said was that China was “India’s “greatest neighbour”…and New Delhi wanted the “strongest relationship” with Beijing”.
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The second headline:
Arunachal accord: China backtracks “China is backtracking on an agreement reached with India two years ago (that) clearly stated…both countries shall safeguard the interests of their settled population in the border areas.
…However, media reports now say China no longer seems to accept that. This was reportedly conveyed to …