FORWARD MOMENTUM

With the ongoing border tensions with China showing no signs of cooling off and a diplomatic thaw seeming too far as a mirage, Indian military is preparing for the long-haul in Ladakh

- DHIRENDER JAMVAL

India’s ongoing border confrontation with China is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. The current situation has meant that a large number of Indian troops will need to be maintained on a permanent basis to fortify and protect our Eastern borders with a belligerent China. Speaking in the Lok Sabha on September 15, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh listed the key areas of disagreement with China, who he said continues to be in illegal occupation of approximately 38,000 sq. kms in the Union Territory of Ladakh. Pakistan has also illegally ceded 5,180 sq. km. of Indian territory in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) to China, under the so-called Sino- Pakistan 'Boundary Agreement' of 1963. Approximately 90,000 sq. kms. of Indian territory in the Eastern Sector of the India-China boundary in Arunachal Pradesh are also claimed by China. Evidently, this is a complex boundary issue and the recent aggressive steps taken by China have derailed the considerable progress made by both nations since 1988.

“As the House is aware, India and China are yet to resolve their boundary question. China does not accept the customary and traditional alignment of the boundary between India and China. We believe that this alignment is based on well-established geographical principles confirmed by treaties and agreements, as well as historical usage and practice, well-known for centuries to both sides,” Singh said. “The Chinese position, however, is that the boundary between the two countries has not been formally delimited, that there exists a traditional customary line formed by the extent of jurisdiction that they claim was exercised historically by each side, and that the two sides have different interpretations of the position of the traditional customary line,” Rajnath Singh said in Parliament.