- Outcomes awaited
By Sangeeta Saxena
New Delhi. 07 June 2020. After a long day of positive anticipation and no information coming from the MOD, today MEA released a statement.
“In recent weeks, India and China have maintained communications through established diplomatic and military channels to address the situation in areas along the India-China border.
A meeting was held between the Corps Commander based in Leh and the Chinese Commander on 6 June 2020 in the Chushul-Moldo region. It took place in a cordial and positive atmosphere. Both sides agreed to peacefully resolve the situation in the border areas in accordance with various bilateral agreements and keeping in view the agreement between the leaders that peace and tranquility in the India-China border regions is essential for the overall development of bilateral relations.
Both sides also noted that this year marked the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and agreed that an early resolution would contribute to the further development of the relationship.
Accordingly, the two sides will continue the military and diplomatic engagements to resolve the situation and to ensure peace and tranquility in the border areas.”
So there is no information on the actual talks from the Indian government. And ofcourse no release has been uploaded on the MOFA China website, presuming the department is on a weekend holiday. So India is waiting and watching.
But China through its Global Times newspaper has warned India, “China does not want to fall foul of India. Good-neighborly relations have been China’s basic national policy over the past decades, and China firmly adheres to a peaceful resolution of border disputes. We have no reason to make India our enemy. But China will not give up any inch of territory. Once India makes a strategic misjudgment and nibbles away at China’s territory, China will never condone it. China is bound to make strong countermeasures. We believe India knows very well that China will not be at a disadvantage in any China-India military operations along the border area.”
And at the moment and always in the past it has been China nibbling and trying to nibble Indian territory. Can India not make counter measures? Can India condone such activity? And China should rethink when it says it will not be at a disadvantage in case of military operations. It needs a reminder that two generations of its soldiers have not fought a war whereas Indian soldiers have not only fought wars but have also had their hands full with a permanent low intensity conflict, which they fight at both the borders and within the nation. China has four warfares it has indulged in -psychological, media, cyber and legal. So while we are waiting for the outcomes of yesterday’s meeting, no harm in trying to understand China’s five pronged strategy where the fifth ofcourse is military warfare.
