Inch by Inch – now in Uttarakhand too..
Barely a few weeks back, I wrote a post lamenting our inability to learn any lessons from past experiences with China. I had not realised I would be writing a  follow-up post so soon after. I learnt recently (via Gaurav Sawant) that Chinese troops have committed 50 violations of LAC in the last 3 months alone.
Apparently platoons of PLA (on foot, horseback and helicopters) destroyed Indian defences & bunkers during this violations. Gaurav also reported that DC Leh had filed several reports saying Chinese troops beat up Indian shepherds, steal their cattle & tents and have stopped road construction.  He tweeted that, “LaC shifted by more than 6 kms ahead of Aksai Chin“
To top it, on August 15th, Independence Day, approximately 44 PLA soldiers set up tents 3 km inside Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh (according to reports sent to MEA). And earlier this month, on Sept 16 at Demchok,
PLA & Indian patrol came close. India did `banner drill’. withdrew. PLA did not
And I just discovered that such “intrusions” are now happening beyond J&K and Arunachal Pradesh:
Away from Arunachal, the PLA is also sending out patrols to the Barahoti plains in north Uttarakhand. There have been eight intrusions so far in 2011 compared to nine last year.
The government meanwhile, continues to live in blissful denial, with “highly placed” sources saying, “Let us not create a demon where none exists. At times these can be self-fulfilling prophecies“! – while the Ministry of Defence is accused of crying wolf.
Any doubts that this is the most corrupt, incapable and incompetent government we ever had? and any wonder that the credibility of government is at its lowest since independence?
Related Posts: We are like this only… and Inch by Inch – Parts 1 and Part 2 and Inch-by-inch in far-away Demochok
My comment at #8 below briefly lists some options to deal with China.
Suggestions for what we can do about it?
What do you think we should/could do about it?
Not sure. Perhaps to build up the infrastructure in those areas – I mean if there are bustling cities there, the Chinese can hardly have so many incursions right? But that takes time and I don’t know how good India is at long term planning of this sort.
In the short term, I really don’t know.
Time to declare emergency in India, and take up the nations cause first, near the borders. Sort out the border issues, if need be wage war. For these bunch of politicians who are running India wouldn’t give a damn for the country. If they did, we wouldn’t be fighting so many battles, both internally and externally on a daily basis, while these set of corrupt politicians and their aides enjoy the spoils, hoarding black money for a perpetual peaceful vacation for few generations in some exotic locales. The good v/s evil didn’t get sorted out through negotiations in Mahabharata. It did, in the 18 day battle at Dharmakshetre Kurukshetra.
@Ganesh
You forget that both armies were annihilated as well. In fact, that was the true reason for the Mahabharata war. Krishna was born to kill off all the Kshatriyas.
But in real life today, we can end up destroying the whole world instead.
Comrade Park says: >>Krishna was born to kill off all the Kshatriyas<<
A perfect example of a moron passing judgement based on half-assed to no knowledge of a tradition he and his ideological brethren actually hope and seek to dismantle.
The Congress party is only interested in the spoils of being in government. They don't give a rat's ass about country and civilization. The solution is to kick them out. And BTW lets not forget the socialist terrorists within who would love to have the Chinese comrades take over India.
An imposter seems to have hijacked my name to post (it could be his name too. This website has no way of distinguishing between two different posters if they choose to post with the same name). Anyway.
The only way India can fend challenges from across the border is by having strong political parties. It is alright for Shantanu to point to the problem, but it will be silly even to think that an individual can solve such a huge problem.
If Congress is inept or careless it is for BJP to point it out. Instead, the old man is on the yatra yet again talking about JP and 70’s and his connection with RSS. Unfortunately, there is very little effort in the blogosphere to force BJP or other political parties to behave.
We need strong Congress, strong BJP, and vibrant regional parties to ensure good governance and robust defence of Indian interests. In all other cases, outside interests will always be able to help themselves by exploiting the political gap.
@Bhagwad: Here are some ideas (hurried response)
Improve border areas infrastructure
Improve communication links with North-east region
Modernise defence forces
Improve surveillance capabilities
Put indirect pressure on China at multi-lateral forums on Tibet, human rights etc
Cultivate Japan – and Vietnam and Australia in the Asia-Pacific region
Finally, be realistic but decisive.
P.S. Don’t forget Sardar Patel’s letter on China written more than 60 years ago ..and pl do read Prof Brahma Chellaney and some of his articles on China.
Also read: https://satyameva-jayate.org/2007/02/04/watch-how-china-defends-itself-excerpts/ and https://satyameva-jayate.org/2011/03/22/arunachal-tibet-and-china/
Finally, bring public pressure to bear such that these kind of things (below) do not happen:
from http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_rail-link-to-northeast-cut-off-due-to-agitation-in-bihar_1598149
and “As Manipur tries to sleep through the *60th night* of blockade – ONCE AGAIN..” from http://www.facebook.com/SatyamevaJayate.FanPage/posts/157226044367123
In the end, as Prakash (#7) has mentioned, this is not a problem that can be solved by ANY individual.
***
@Prakash (#7): You have perhaps been too harsh in your choice of words (“imposter”). Prakash is not an uncommon name and why would someone pretend to be you on this site?
@Prakash #7,
In this page, you are but merely a name. As am I. For all we know you could very well be a Vijay or a Rahul or a Zazapupu. So could I.
“In the short term, I really don’t know.”
_
Wow. Such lack of ideas or thoughts or solutions or strategies from our liberal-secular intellectual? Would you have the same response if your neighbor starts encroaching on your property?
And can’t you even find it in you to criticize the weak response by the government to such intrusions by China? It costs nothing to do so. Looks like you have no problem criticizing other agencies, groups and/or people, so why this reluctance in this case? Very puzzling.
I would let Tibet open an embassy across the road from the Chinese Embassy on Shanti Path tomorrow and then let us see what happens. China is scared of no one but Dalai Lama.
….of all the Indian Prime Ministers I think Indira Gandhi would have had the balls (excuse my words) With all her faults the woman knew how to handle bullies.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/10/14/debating_the_pacific_century
he state’s exchequer has been deprived of Rs. 680 Cr as Mayawati also sought to enshrine herself, along with the Dalit Icons, not in a single avatar, but in multiples of two. Along with Mayawati, her parents have also been “statueâ€-fied.
http://indiawires.com/3157/network-buzz/mayawati-the-unbridled-horse-of-mayanagari/
” the PLA is also sending out patrols to the Barahoti plains in north Uttarakhand”
Barahoti!!!
chinese started their ‘game’ at this place in 1954.
From Will China threat last 2 yrs? FinMin stalls military expansion:
…The second phase of the government’s ambitious military expansion plan — worth Rs 65,000 crore — has run into rough weather. The finance ministry has red-flagged the plan with detailed queries and sent it back to the defence ministry with a bizarre question: will the Chinese threat last more than two years?
…Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had given in-principle clearance last year to a five-year expansion plan, which involves fresh accretion of 89,000 troops with 400 officers — one of India’s biggest one-time military expansion efforts.
…
The plan includes setting up a new strike corps in Panagarh, West Bengal, along with two more divisions. An independent armoured brigade along with an artillery division will be part of the set-up. These plans were fast tracked after the Army conveyed to the PM that according to available intelligence, China has been rehearsing military action during a limited local offensive.
…
Sources said the finance ministry has also blocked the second stage of expansion of India’s first Navy-only bases, INS Kadamba in Karwar along the Karnataka coast. This Rs 13,000-crore plan involves creating more than a dozen piers and more berths which will host, among other ships, India’s next aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, better known as Admiral Gorshkov, which is now being refurbished in Russia.
http://expressbuzz.com/topnews/pakistan-to-lease-gilgit-baltistan-to-china/362737.html
Pakistan to lease Gilgit to China!!
Now in Himachal…
From Chinese choppers in Indian airspace, Centre ignored warnings: Dhumal:
The Himachal Pradesh government on Thursday confirmed reports of Chinese helicopters entering Indian airspace along the international border near Kaurik and Lapcha areas in the twin tribal districts of Kinnuar and Lahaul-Spiti, a few days ago.
Alarmed by the second such incident in the past two months, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said the Centre has already been informed about the violations, which were spotted by the the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel and some locals on March 16. The choppers entered deep into the areas over Lahaul-Spiti district and stayed for almost 10 to 12 minutes.
From China’s Ladakh intrusion: Two maps tell this dangerous story by Praveen Swami Apr 29, 2013, a brief excerpt:
..So what should India do? There’s no shortage of suggestions. In a thoughtful commentary in the Business Standard, defence expert Ajai Shukla recommended India place more aggressive diplomatic pressure on China, for example by pushing it on the conflicts in Tibet and Xinjiang. The eminent commentator Swapan Dasgupta, similarly, has suggested “lending a shoulder to countries such as Japan, Vietnam and even Singapore who are fearful of China’s hegemonismâ€. Singh, for his part, has suggested a grand territorial bargain on Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin.
…
There are things India can do, short of setting off a firefight, which can signal seriousness of purpose: among them, more aggressive probes and presence-marking operations. There will be a price—but it will be cheaper than the cost of doing nothing now.
From Brahma Chellaney’s piece on Doklam:
…
The tri-border overlooking the Chinese-held Chumbi valley is one of the few areas where India still holds a distinct advantage, with Chinese forces within Indian observation cum artillery range. If China were to capture Bhutan’s high-altitude Doklam plateau, it would not only mitigate that vulnerability but also hold a knife to India’s jugular vein – the Siliguri Corridor, through which Bhutan’s communications and transportation arteries also pass.
While existential stakes drove India to halt China’s construction of a strategic highway through Doklam, Beijing made a serious strategic miscalculation by intruding there: It anticipated Bhutan’s diplomatic protest but not India’s swift, stealthy military intervention. The Indian army had long geared up to respond to such a contingency.
No Indian government can countenance the construction of a road through Doklam that allows China to bring main battle tanks to the tri-border and implement, in the event of a war, its military plan to decapitate India. In such a corridor-bisecting scenario, while China gobbles up Arunachal Pradesh, the other northeast Indian states, as a Chinese state mouthpiece warned recently, could become “independentâ€.
Today, thanks to its miscalculation, China finds itself in an unenviable position: It must extricate itself from a militarily wretched situation in Doklam, where its intruding soldiers are caught in a pincer movement. If China were to initiate hostilities at the tri-border, it will likely be left, as in 1967, with a bloodied nose, given the Indian army’s terrain and tactical advantages.
Politically Beijing has boxed itself in a corner, with its intense psychological warfare (“psywarâ€) and disinformation operations failing to yield continuing gains, after the success in initially dominating the narrative. If anything, its psychological operations (“psy-opsâ€) and manipulation of legal arguments (“lawfareâ€), as by selectively quoting an 1890 colonial-era accord, offer India important lessons. It is standard Chinese strategy to play the victim in any conflict or dispute, as China brazenly did even in 1962.
…
India should allow the Doklam military stalemate to drag on until the arrival of the harsh winter forces the rival troops to retreat, thus restoring the status quo ante, including frustrating China’s road-building plan.
…
Implicitly, if not explicitly, China must come out a significant loser in order to help rein in its creeping, covert encroachments.
Excerpts from Brahma Chellaney’s latest article on China Don’t Underestimate China’s Game Plan for Arunachal Pradesh, 7th April 2023:
“… If Taiwan falls, China’s next target in the name of “reunification” would likely be Arunachal Pradesh.
Against this background, India needs to rethink and recalibrate its China policy. India needs a wiser, more forward-looking China policy that leverages Indian buying power and diplomatic strength. India should be less reactive and more proactive. For example, why should salami-slicing be the prerogative of only the Chinese side?
Given that Beijing’s claims on Indian territories are based on its occupation of Tibet, including calling Arunachal Pradesh “South Tibet”, it is self-defeating for New Delhi to still hew to the stance that Tibet is an integral part of China. New Delhi must adopt a more nuanced approach, including referring to the Himalayan border as the “Indo-Tibetan” frontier and showing in its official maps that India borders Tibet.
India also needs to find ways to stop Beijing from reaping the rewards of aggression. For starters, it must address its burgeoning trade deficit with China, including by slashing non-essential imports. It is very counterproductive to India’s interests that New Delhi is effectively underwriting the economic and geopolitical power of an adversary that is playing the long game in the Himalayas and the Indian Ocean.