“India as a policy do not allow the country men to settle in such border area, Chinese government extends all support to civilians who are ready to occupy such disputed location. We also don’t keep a 365 days surveillance on the India–Chinese border…. It makes things easy for China to push their men into areas considered to be under the control of India.” — Col. C.R. Sundar.
Amidst growing diplomatic anxiety between India and China over the latest incursion by the People’s Liberation Army into Indian territory of Ladakh particularly at a time when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was serving dinner to visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping, two retired Indian Army colonels in Chennai say that at Ladakh both countries operate on imaginary border.
India should outsmart Chinese in developing border districts and providing infrastructure to local residents to assert itself, they feel. The retired army officers, who had served extensively on India–China borders, are of the opinion that India should try to solve the issue socially. “The British had handed over India to our political leaders without marking the border with China in the Ladakh area. We have the same kind of problem in Arunachal Pradesh also.
“While India as a policy do not allow the country men to settle in such border area, Chinese government extends all support to civilians who are ready to occupy such disputed location. We also don’t keep a 365 days surveillance on the India–Chinese border unlike the India–Pak border line, which is considered as a very aggressive border. It makes things easy for China to push their men into areas considered to be under the control of India,” noted Col. C.R. Sundar.
While most Indians find it difficult to cope with the extreme weather on the border, settlers from China side do not have any problem in setting up their homes on ‘vacant land’ with the support of their government, he added. Across the border, China showcases a very successful nation. “Their infrastructure building exercise is very fast. Their roads are better. They have good schools on the border, which are as good as top schools in Delhi. If the locals are attracted towards China, we cant blame them. The China side is smarter than Indian side. Even the uniform their soldiers wear is much better than the one used by our boys,” says Col. A.D. Tensingh.
Over 1,000 soldiers each from India and China are locked in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation at the border in Chumur sector. India rushed reinforcements to Chumur after learning about Chinese aggression. The Chinese side allegedly brought in heavy construction equipment and a large labour force to set up a road up to the border, which increased the tension. A flag meeting between both sides ended on Wednesday late night without any result. – Deccan Chronicle, 19 September 2014,
Filed under: india | Tagged: diplomacy, india-china border dispute, india-china relations, narendra modi, xi jinping |
BHARATA BHARATI 
China Overplayed its Hand in Chumur – Nitin Gokhale – NDTV – 19 September 2014
As the first signs of de-escalation appear in Chumur, it is now clear that China overplayed its hand by sending a disproportionate number of troops to intrude into India.
On Wednesday, the Peoples Liberation Army or PLA began sending a battalion-strong (1000 men) force to a location called 30 R in the Chumur sector, even as a flag meeting was on to try and resolve the original issue of transgression earlier this week at a point about two km away.
By intruding four to five km inside Indian territory with such a large force, the PLA perhaps hoped to intimidate the Indian Army. But the local commanders under 14 Corps based at Leh and the Northern Command swiftly deployed almost 1,500 troops to counter the Chinese intrusion, taking the PLA totally by surprise.
The eye ball to eye ball standoff soon made headlines, putting visiting Chinese president Xi Jinping under pressure during his talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
When PM Modi broached the subject at an informal dinner he was hosting for Mr Xi in Ahmedabad, the Chinese side realised that a local operation had suddenly become a bigger headache than they anticipated.
Preliminary assessment by India’s national security managers suggests the PLA commanders did not anticipate India’s swift counter build-up and firm stand during the two marathon flag meetings on Monday and Wednesday.
This was a change from previous occasions when the Indian side often appeared unsure of how to deal with intrusions and transgressions, as was evident during the three-week-long Depsang face off in April last year.
When the current crisis began in early September, the Chinese were taken aback by India’s strong objection to a road it wanted to build in Chumur.
When the presence of a small force failed to deter local Indian commanders, China tried intimidation by sending a battalion-strong force.
But even that didn’t work forcing President Xi Jinping to admit obliquely that incidents on the border happen because it is undemarcated; the trick he said was in preventing such incidents from having a large impact.
Unfortunately for him, a tactical blunder on the PLA’s part at Chumur – with his full knowledge – has turned out to be a decision with large strategic implications, especially since the President was on a high-stakes visit to India.
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