Even as External Affairs Minister S M Krishna sought to play down fresh reports of Chinese incursions, the armed forces have intensified patrolling along the line of actual control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh and the entire area is expected to be brought under radar surveillance.
Though New Delhi is not perturbed over the reports of Chinese incursions, official sources said there was no question of India lowering its guard. In a brief interaction with the media outside his ministry, Krishna said there was an inbuilt mechanism between the two sides to deal with any border violations.
It is learnt that the two sides had held a border meeting in Ladakh in August at which the Indian officials took up this matter with the China while drawing up India’s own strategy to deal with any future violations. In the defence establishment, recent acts of China are being seen as attempts to provoke India.
Krishna’s statement this morning came as a surprise to the defence establishment, indicating differences between the Defence Ministry and the Foreign office over the Chinese incursions.
‘’Let me go on record to say that (border with China) has been one of the most peaceful boundaries that we have as compared to boundary lines with other countries,’’ Krishna said when his reaction was sought to incidents of China violating the Indian airspace and the LAC. Krishna did not agree with a suggestion that these incursions were a cause of concern.
Home Minister P Chidambaram had also told a television news channel that reports of Chinese incursions should not be overplayed and that talks were on between the two sides to resolve the boundary issue. Cross-border violation would continue until the boundary issue was settled for good.
Defence sources, however, pointed out that while Indian soldiers have been detained by China in the past for violation of LAC, the Indian stand in the matter is ambiguous. China has been applying intense pressure not only in Ladakh but also at the tri-junction of the India-China-Bhutan border near Bumla in Arunachal Pradesh.
Last year, there were as many as 223 Chinese incursions while nearly 75 border violations from the Chinese side have already taken place in the past three months.
However, officials say many of these incursions could be the result of difference in perceptions between the two sides on LAC. “India has proposed an early clarification and confirmation of the LAC…that, however, is awaited,’’ the officials said.
They pointed out that the two countries have put in place a mechanism to deal with any border transgression that comes to the notice of either side. The issue is settled either through meetings between border personnel of the two countries or at the level of diplomats.
The Special Representatives (SRs) of the two countries had met in New Delhi last month and decided to resolve the boundary dispute peacefully. Pending the settlement of the boundary issue, it was decided that the two sides would maintain peace and tranquility in border areas.
The officials pointed out that in fact the SRs for the first time went beyond their brief and discussed expansion of bilateral cooperation in areas such as trade and investment, defence, culture, education and people-to-people exchanges. They noted that India had issued nearly 58,000 business visas to Chinese nationals last year.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, who was until recently India’s envoy to Beijing, meanwhile, is said to be getting a regular update on the situation from Indian Ambassador to China S Jaishankar. The envoy is also reported to have brushed aside reports of conflict along the border as “sensational” and “alarmist”.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Foreign Ministry also today said the reports of yet another Chinese incursion into India were groundless. “Reports of any incursion into India are groundless and based on incidents which never happened.” Beijing said China sought a fair and mutually understandable solution through peaceful and friendly negotiations between the two sides. Attempts to get a response from the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi on the development, however, did not yield result.
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