August 8, 2017
Sikkim standoff escalates:
China threatens to enter into Kashmir or Kalapani in Uttarakhand
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
A day after editor of leading Chinese newspaper Global Times said military action was inevitable if Indian troops did not withdraw from China's soil in Doklam, Beijing has issued another threat saying what would India do if China enters Kashmir or the Kalapani region in Uttarakhand.
Wang Wenli, Deputy Director General of the Boundary and Ocean Affairs of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the visiting Indian journalists, "The Indian side has also many tri-junctions. What if we use the same excuse and enter the Kalapani region between China, India and Nepal or the Kashmir region between India and Pakistan.
Indian journalists were visiting China at the invitation of All China Journalists Association (ACJA).
India and China have been locked in a face-off in the Doklam area of the Sikkim sector since June 16 after Indian troops stopped the Chinese Army from building a road in the area. China said it was constructing the road within their territory and has been demanding immediate pull-out of the Indian troops from the disputed Doklam plateau.
“Even if there is only one Indian soldier, even for a day it is still a violation of our sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Wang Wenli said adding: “It is impossible to have a dialogue with India at this time. Our people will think our government is incompetent.”
Wang Wenli raised the Kashmir issue and also referred to the Kalapani dispute between India and Nepal. “We think it is not doable for the Indian side to use tri-junction as an excuse,” she said, referring to Indian External Affairs Ministry’s assertion that the road building at the China, India and Bhutan tri-junction in the strategic narrow Chicken’s Neck area changes the status quo.
“The Indian side has also many tri-junctions. What if we use the same excuse and enter the Kalapani region between China, India and Nepal or even into the Kashmir region between India and Pakistan,” she said. “Therefore, using the tri-junction as an excuse does not hold water at all. It will only cause more trouble,” Wang said.
According to the Indian Express, this is the first time that a Chinese official sought to bring in the Kashmir issue even though such a remark has been made earlier by a scholar in the Global Times.
Asked whether China was getting ready for a war with India, Wang said, “I can only say that for the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) and for the Chinese government, we have the determination. So, if the Indian side decides to go down the wrong path or still have illusions about this incident, then we have the right to use any act that is in line with the international law to protect our rights.”
Wang said India and China had many standoffs before but “we haven’t issued any position paper till now”. “But this time we have the position paper and in the position paper, you can find clear information about our position and possible moves by us,” she said, referring to a 15-page fact sheet issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry few days ago.
India’s position on the issue was made clear by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj recently, saying both sides should first pull back their troops for any talks to take place, favoring a peaceful resolution of the border standoff. Referring to reports in the Indian media that both the countries’ border troops can withdraw at the same time to restore the status quo, Wang said “this is also unacceptable for China”.
Chinese threat should not be taken lightly
Indian experts said on Wednesday that India should take the Chinese threat of entering Kalapani in Uttarakhand seriously to keep an eye on “activities across the border”.
Kalapani is a region close to Nepal and the Himalayan country has been staking claim over the disputed territory for years now. Kalapani is a 35 square kilometre area in the hill state’s Pithoragarh district under control of Indo Tibetan Border Police. Uttarakhand shares an 80.5-km long porous border with Nepal and a 344-km border with China, the Hindustan Times said.
SS Pangti, an expert on India-Nepal border affairs, was quoted by Hindustan Times as saying that the 1816 Segauli treaty signed between the British and Nepal locates the Kali River as the western border between the nations.
Kalapani is considered as the origin of Kali River that flows from Nepal and enters Uttarakhand. In fact, both the nations are also working on a joint hydropower project Pancheshwar on the river on the Indian side.
“Above Kalapani there is no demarcation (of the boundary) between Indo-Nepal till China border. This could lead to problems in the coming time. The dragon’s threat should not be taken lightly,” Pangti told the Hindustan Times.
“It is crucial for India to maintain control at Kalapani in a bid to keep an eye on the activities across the border,” he added.
China Daily warns: Countdown to clash between Chinese and Indian forces has begun
"New Delhi should come to its senses while it has time," is the title of Tuesday's editorial of the China Daily, published by the Communist Party of China.
In one of the most scathing editorials till now aimed at India over the Doklam row in the Sikkim sector, China Daily has warned that ‘the countdown to a clash between the two forces has begun’.
The stinging editorial opined that the window to peacefully resolve the standoff in Doklam is closing even as the row enters its seventh week. “The countdown to a clash between the two forces has begun, and the clock is ticking away the time to what seems to be an inevitable conclusion.”
The editorial goes onto say that all India needs to do is withdraw its troops from the Doklam area for any kind of meaningful talks and for Beijing to avoid any kind of conflict. “Beijing has time and again sent the message that to avoid conflict all India needs to do is withdraw all its troops from an area that based on historical treaties, historically expressed agreements and long-exercised control both have long agreed is Chinese territory.”
India and China have been locked in a standoff in Sikkim section’s Doklam area since June 16 after Chinese troops began constructing a road near the Bhutan trijunction.
Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim.
India a major challenger to China's influence, US expert
Amid rhetoric from China, the Indian news agency, the Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted an American Chinese expert as saying Chinese President Xi Jinping sees Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a leader who is willing to stand up for Indian interests and to work together with other countries in the region that are looking to impose constraints on China
The PTI quoted Bonnie S Glaser from Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) as saying: “I think that Xi Jinping sees Prime Minister Modi as a leader who is willing to stand up for Indian interests and to work together with other countries in the region that are looking to impose constraints on China, and particularly the US and Japan, and that’s something, I think Beijing is worried about.”
Glaser, who has served as a member of the Defense Department’s Defense Policy Board China Panel in 1997, believes that China sees India as a major challenger to it in the long term. “China sees India as the biggest rising developing power that in the longer run, … could pose challenges. In the near term, China worries most about India’s cooperation with other countries, forging coalitions with other countries like Japan, Australia, and the US, to counter Chinese power influence in the region,” she noted.
Glaser pointed out that India is the only country in the world that opposes explicitly China’s One Belt and One Road Initiative. “China doesn’t see India as posing very much of a military threat. China hasn’t taken India’s nuclear arsenal, for example, as a major threat to its security, but increasingly sees India as a political threat to China, in part because it is cooperation with lots of other powers to constrain China,” she added.
While Doklam standoff continues, India’s position and its end result could have large implication on other countries in the region, especially those who have border dispute with China, she noted. “If China succeeds in having its way with other countries, and certainly with India, this could embolden China to be even more extrapolous, more unbending in dealing with countries with which it has territorial disputes,” Glaser said.
Abdus Sattar Ghazali is the Chief Editor of the Journal of America.
The Journal of America Team:
Editor in chief:
Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Senior Editor:
Prof. Arthur Scott
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