The Hindu Business Line : Dragonspeak on border

In recent days, China has once again interfered in the Indian Republic’s domestic affairs by criticising the election visit of the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, to Arunachal Pradesh. Earlier, Beijing had pulled up the then Union Foreign Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, for visiting Tawang, saying that such visits to a ‘disputed’ territory harmed the development of cordial ties between the two countries.

On October 13, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman had said in a statement: “We demand the Indian side address China’s serious concerns and not trigger disturbance in the disputed region so as to facilitate the healthy development of China-India relations. China is strongly dissatisfied with the visit to the disputed region by the Indian leader, disregarding China’s serious concerns”. On the same day, the External Affairs Ministry spokesman said: “It is a well-established practice in our democratic system that our leaders visit States where elections to Parliament and to the State Assemblies are taking place. The Government of India is deeply committed to ensuring the welfare of its own citizens across the length and breadth of our country”.

War of words

The UPA Government needs to be complimented for deciding to take the war of words to the Chinese camp the very next day by pulling up Beijing for involving itself in projects being set up in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. The External Affairs Ministry spokesman said: “Pakistan has been in illegal occupation of parts of the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir since 1947. The Chinese side is fully aware of India’s position and our concerns about Chinese activities in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. We hope that the Chinese side will take a long term view of the India-China relations, and cease such activities in areas illegally occupied by Pakistan”. The Chinese reply to this was that “the Kashmir issue is a question left over by history that should be resolved properly through consultation and dialogue by India and Pakistan”. Excellent advice this, but it also means that Beijing sees nothing wrong in interfering in the dispute by siding with one of the parties involved in it.

If one sees the way in which Beijing has handled the Taiwan problem, or the fallout of the Second World War which has soured post-War ties with Japan, it is clear that China can be flexible if and when it wants to be so. What then is influencing China’s present policy vis-À-vis the border problems with India, specially when issues as serious as those governing the Taiwan and Japan problems do not figure in the case of India? Is it geo-politics, and is Beijing using Pakistan to play its game with India?

Opening Pandora’s box

If it is then, perhaps, things are set to get worse before they can get better, because the status and stability of Pakistan as a useful player on Beijing’s chessboard is getting worse by the day, so to speak. Sometime ago, the Chinese Prime Minister is quoted as having said that “despite volatile international changes, China and Pakistan have established an ‘all-weather, all-around, co-operative partnership’”. It would appear that events in Pakistan during the past month or so have opened a Pandora’s box of disruptive events, which could even threaten the future of the Pakistani State if the lid is not clamped shut soon. Beijing is of course well aware of this, but before it can settle on a new strategy to contain India it could choose to adopt a hard line, specially in view of the fact that the Indian armed forces have begun pepping themselves up along the border which they should have done a long time ago.

RANABIR RAY CHOUDHURY

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