Binoo Joshi
The deepening crisis in eastern Ladakh due to the clashing mode of the. Chinese and Indian troops for the past few weeks has assumed a shape of what seems irresolvable stalemate . The real problem is not what is happening with troops from both the sides turning the LAC into a full fledged war-zone, there is something more than what meets the eye.
The massive mobilisation of troops at the LAC cannot be dismissed as mere optics. Armies don’t reach the perceived or actual border lines to oblige set up optics that may end in a zero-sum game. Both India and China know what it means to place troops in an eyeball to eyeball situation on the borders , though the LAC is more of mountains and rivers .
The Indian concerns should be viewed not from the Indian perspective alone. It has international dimension that the world can chose to ignore at its own peril. More than eyeing the Indian territory, China is seeking to tell the world that it can alter any status quo at any time of its choosing including the international relations of the countries in the region and beyond.
Here the status quo is being seen the obsessive and aggressive approach in Ladakh to change what India has been defending all along against all odds. It is not easy to deploy troops in the Himalayan heights and keep them fighting fit against an adversary nurturing and pursuing the ambitions of being a sole superpower in the world . It wants to recreate a unilateral world..
The heavy buildup by China is one of the measures that it has restored to realise its global ambitions . The buildup is backed by distortion of about the nature of the LAC . It is claiming the territory that was never its part. China was a bigger power than India in military, economic and also in the international forums , including the United Nations where it sits as one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.. .
This superiority could have provided so many opportunities to do what it is doing now , and what it calls defending its side of the LAC. This is unusual . China did not do it all these years even when India and Pakistan were engaged in wars.
If one recalls it correctly , Beijing had chided Pakistan during Kargil War thrust on India by Pakistan by pushing its intruders who captured the Indian posts during the winter of 1998-99. Beijing had taken a principled stand at that time. It had asked Pakistan to respect the sanctity of the LoC or Line of Control that divides Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan. That was a note of caution to Pakistan asking it not to pursue its misadventure .
Now China intoxicated with its military power and the imagined economic success and the reach that travels to continents , has deployed more than 5,000 troops with heavy weaponry. It is sitting in the Indian territory and using it to change the world order at the time when the nations are hit hard by the pandemic that originated from China.
It is none of China’s business to advise India that how it should conduct its foreign relations with other nations, particularly , the United States of America. The sovereign nations conduct their foreign policy and international relations as per their suitability and national interests. But China thinks it can do so . It is a delusion .
Global Times, the mouth piece of Chinese Communist Party used a threatening tone against India regarding the border situation and went on to sort of dictate as to how Delhi should conduct its foreign relations
It stated: Under the current circumstance, India needs to be careful not to include the US factor in its handling of any problem in its relations with China, otherwise it will only complicate the issue. The same is true of the recent China-India border tension, and the offer of US mediation is unnecessary and the last thing both sides could use. China and India have the ability to resolve their problems, and there is no need for any third-party intervention.”.
It went on to say that , “If in a new Cold War, India leans toward the US or becomes a US pawn attacking China, the economic and trade ties between the two Asian neighbors will suffer a devastating blow. And it would be too much for the Indian economy to take such a hit at the current stage.”
This, in fact, is the manifestation of fears that China is having regarding its growing number of problems at the international stage. It wants to use its regional hegemony against India to correct its dented image before the world and also to satisfy its domestic constituency seething with anger over the flood of misinformation that the ruling party in Beijing spread after the break out of the corona virus.
The growing friendship between Delhi and Washington was never to the liking of Beijing .Now since America has started asking questions about the spread of the corona virus, which started from Wuhan, and also issuing warnings on Hong Kong and Taiwan, China is worried about what happens next. It might have gained strategic assets in Africa and other continents , but it knows that it is not in a position to change the world order as per its wishes. India will do everything to defend its sovereignty in all matters.
