Friday, March 29, 2024

News Destination For The Global Indian Community

News Destination For The Global Indian Community

DEFENCE
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Face-off again

Face-off again

It’s going to be a long haul with periodic flare-ups as China is not going to back down from strategic heights in Ladakh

Its Foreign Ministry statement following a fresh flare-up at Pangong-Tso, where the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) once again tried to cross the border, is indication enough that China is never going to back down. And it is going to provoke and exasperate India till it extracts something in return. It said its troops “never cross the Line of Actual Control (LAC)”, a familiar trope to justify its border claims — considering it is unmarked on the ground — and appropriate geological features to redefine it time and again according to its convenience. In its book, salami-slicing is a perfect geo-political art where it plays on perceptional differences of what is implied and gets its way by heaving down militarily. Is the latest attempt to change the status quo at Pangong Tso the result of India quietly sending warships in the South China Sea post-Galwan, along with those of the US, to flex some muscle? So far, China had stared India down but now that there is a robustness of response from our side, the tension is only expected to aggravate. India should be prepared for the long haul. And though a Siachenisation at the heights would mean a waste of man and resources on both sides, China seems to be preparing for a stakeout this winter and beyond. For all the diplomacy around eastern Ladakh, it is just a diversionary tactic as the Chinese will not forfeit what they have gained in Pangong Lake and Depsang areas. That’s because this geographical wedge between Gilgit-Baltistan in the west (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir), where China is heavily invested in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and Aksai Chin in the east, is an irritant to its regional supremacy, strategically and economically. And it wants an unhindered run of the highway from Xinjiang to Tibet, 179 km of which is under Indian shadow. So far, its contiguous hold on Central Asia, Pakistan and beyond was a low-cost, undemanding exercise, playing as it did on interpreting its version of the LAC on the ground. But now that we have ramped up our border infrastructure, China is extremely uncomfortable about the proximity of the Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) Road to sensitive areas and strategic highways to the north of the Karakoram Pass. And as Galwan has shown, our troops are more than capable in high altitude warfare. So China simply won’t give up the spurs it has now because it doesn’t want to compromise its edge in the Karakoram. Already, it has browbeaten India at the talks table by calling for a buffer zone, which means our forces cannot patrol up to the points they used to because of the Chinese insistence of a no man’s land. This would allow it to build resources on its side unmonitored and reverse any disengagement move at a short notice. This clause also makes Indian vigilance difficult besides stretching our alertness at all times. China is hoping that it will be able to renegotiate the status quo on Pangong Tso by wearing out our troops and patience, particularly during a long, hard winter. We should be wary of the fact that the PLA, which has been pitching tents, building roads and marking territories since 2013 and which takes orders from Chinese President Xi Jinping himself, may lie low but not go silent.

India, which has now empowered troops to counteract any infringement on the LAC, has to focus on a multi-pronged approach to hold off the dragon’s territorial and economic imperialism. It can challenge China in the Indian Ocean region, get more active in the Quad initiative with US and Japan and use its international goodwill as a nation that respects “rule-based order” to build a case against China’s “wolf warrior” tactics. And it must now confront the boundary question, insist on marking the LAC. For years of denial and yielding to the Chinese template of working around the boundary dispute have only left us with trade dependencies and a deficit. Today, it is eastern Ladakh but if the territorial push in Bhutan is any indication, China may very well push its claim lines in Arunachal Pradesh now. Fortunately, we have begun ramping up the naval strategy around the Malacca Straits, which happens to be China’s trade and strategic corridor.  India has deployed its vessels to keep a check on any activity of the Chinese Navy and is planning to maintain hawkish patrols through autonomous underwater vessels, unmanned systems and sensors. Diplomatically, India should be transactional in its approach to China and lay down in no uncertain terms that the latter’s avarice for global domination would not come at the cost of the second largest Asian entity tilting towards the US. In fact, we have to be overt about our strategic partnership with the US. At the same time, we must use every multi-national forum, alliance and bilateral ties to make enough noise about the asymmetric relationship with China. And reclaim our neighbourhood which China has debt-trapped into subservience.

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Face-off again

Face-off again

It’s going to be a long haul with periodic flare-ups as China is not going to back down from strategic heights in Ladakh

Its Foreign Ministry statement following a fresh flare-up at Pangong-Tso, where the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) once again tried to cross the border, is indication enough that China is never going to back down. And it is going to provoke and exasperate India till it extracts something in return. It said its troops “never cross the Line of Actual Control (LAC)”, a familiar trope to justify its border claims — considering it is unmarked on the ground — and appropriate geological features to redefine it time and again according to its convenience. In its book, salami-slicing is a perfect geo-political art where it plays on perceptional differences of what is implied and gets its way by heaving down militarily. Is the latest attempt to change the status quo at Pangong Tso the result of India quietly sending warships in the South China Sea post-Galwan, along with those of the US, to flex some muscle? So far, China had stared India down but now that there is a robustness of response from our side, the tension is only expected to aggravate. India should be prepared for the long haul. And though a Siachenisation at the heights would mean a waste of man and resources on both sides, China seems to be preparing for a stakeout this winter and beyond. For all the diplomacy around eastern Ladakh, it is just a diversionary tactic as the Chinese will not forfeit what they have gained in Pangong Lake and Depsang areas. That’s because this geographical wedge between Gilgit-Baltistan in the west (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir), where China is heavily invested in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and Aksai Chin in the east, is an irritant to its regional supremacy, strategically and economically. And it wants an unhindered run of the highway from Xinjiang to Tibet, 179 km of which is under Indian shadow. So far, its contiguous hold on Central Asia, Pakistan and beyond was a low-cost, undemanding exercise, playing as it did on interpreting its version of the LAC on the ground. But now that we have ramped up our border infrastructure, China is extremely uncomfortable about the proximity of the Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) Road to sensitive areas and strategic highways to the north of the Karakoram Pass. And as Galwan has shown, our troops are more than capable in high altitude warfare. So China simply won’t give up the spurs it has now because it doesn’t want to compromise its edge in the Karakoram. Already, it has browbeaten India at the talks table by calling for a buffer zone, which means our forces cannot patrol up to the points they used to because of the Chinese insistence of a no man’s land. This would allow it to build resources on its side unmonitored and reverse any disengagement move at a short notice. This clause also makes Indian vigilance difficult besides stretching our alertness at all times. China is hoping that it will be able to renegotiate the status quo on Pangong Tso by wearing out our troops and patience, particularly during a long, hard winter. We should be wary of the fact that the PLA, which has been pitching tents, building roads and marking territories since 2013 and which takes orders from Chinese President Xi Jinping himself, may lie low but not go silent.

India, which has now empowered troops to counteract any infringement on the LAC, has to focus on a multi-pronged approach to hold off the dragon’s territorial and economic imperialism. It can challenge China in the Indian Ocean region, get more active in the Quad initiative with US and Japan and use its international goodwill as a nation that respects “rule-based order” to build a case against China’s “wolf warrior” tactics. And it must now confront the boundary question, insist on marking the LAC. For years of denial and yielding to the Chinese template of working around the boundary dispute have only left us with trade dependencies and a deficit. Today, it is eastern Ladakh but if the territorial push in Bhutan is any indication, China may very well push its claim lines in Arunachal Pradesh now. Fortunately, we have begun ramping up the naval strategy around the Malacca Straits, which happens to be China’s trade and strategic corridor.  India has deployed its vessels to keep a check on any activity of the Chinese Navy and is planning to maintain hawkish patrols through autonomous underwater vessels, unmanned systems and sensors. Diplomatically, India should be transactional in its approach to China and lay down in no uncertain terms that the latter’s avarice for global domination would not come at the cost of the second largest Asian entity tilting towards the US. In fact, we have to be overt about our strategic partnership with the US. At the same time, we must use every multi-national forum, alliance and bilateral ties to make enough noise about the asymmetric relationship with China. And reclaim our neighbourhood which China has debt-trapped into subservience.

Courtesy: The Pioneer

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