Binoo Joshi

J K News Today Commentary

Jammu

 

Questioning the leadership’s style of functioning when the country is facing a volatile and serious situation on the borders with China in Ladakh, particularly after the Galwan Valley clashes in which the two sides suffered substantial number of casualties of soldiers, is not a right thing to do at this stage.

When and what should the leadership speak should be left to the leadership.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not spoken a word when the two countries worked behind the scenes to ease the standoff in eastern Ladakh in the run up to June 6 military commander level talks in Chushul-Moldo, the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control on June 6. The talks were held in a cordial atmosphere and it was decided to continue with the dialogue at the military and diplomatic levels to ease the situation.

The MEA in its statement on the commander level talks reflected positivity and cordiality as it noted that both sides “agreed to peacefully resolve the situation in the border areas (read eastern Ladakh stand-off) 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 are essential for the overall development of bilateral relations.”

Coming as it did after Lt. Gen Harinder Singh of 14 corps of the Indian army and Major General Liu Lin of South Xinjiang military region of China’s PLA gave firm peep into the nature of talks and its expected outcome. This was confirmed on June 8 by the foreign ministry spokesperson of China   Hua Chunying. She stressed , “ China and India agreed to implement important consensus reached by leaders, not to turn differences into disputes, work together to maintain peace and tranquility in border areas, so as to create a favorable atmosphere for stable development of bilateral relations.” There was a complete consonance in the sentences in the spirit of the bilateral relations between Beijing and Delhi.

The Galwan Valley situation has caused consternation. India is mourning the loss of 20 of its officers. It should also be noted here that China has not disclosed its casualty figures. It is on the expected lines as China doesn’t speak about its casualties, whether it suffers in Covid-19 spread or border clashes. That is how Communist Party of China rules the country.

It should also not be forgotten that none of the top leaders of China have spoken on the situation. That is to keep the back channels alive to produce the desired results in maintaining the bilateral relations.

The Indian leadership has its own way of speaking when it is necessary. If silence can bring positive results, why break it?