Sino Indian border tension – The self deluding Indian Govt

Sino Indian border tension heightened with claims by the Indian Govt of Chinese border guards crossing to Indian territories. And both sides sent troops to boost up their defences. Last heard, both sides have withdrawn troops and tension has cooled. Both India and China have disputed claims along their borders. Thanks to the British colonial empire that took liberty as the colonial power of the day to draw their own maps. They drew the whole of India as part of the British Empire, including Pakistan, East and West, many parts of Africa, Middle East, SE Asian and the rest of the world. And along the Sino Indian border, the British did the same, writing Chinese territories as part of the British Empire. And when they gave independence to India, they gave the same British map to the Indian Govt who now claimed that those lands too were Indian land. This is the source of the Sino Indian border dispute. Indian conveniently assumed that what the British took, they too could take or inherit.

What is hilarious is the regular drumming up of fear by the Indian Govt, echoed by the western powers, that China is an expansionist power and covet Indian territories, the disputed territories, and would invade India.

The truth is that since the communist took power in China, they have respected all treaties, including unequal treaties signed during the years of the weak Qing Dynasty. They kept to their words and did not use force to retake their territories like Macau and Hongkong, which they could take back any time before the lease forced upon a weak China. They have yet to take back Diaoyu Islands, a war loot signed away when China was defeated by Japan in a naval battle in 1894. And in the case of border dispute with India, China has not resorted to force to take back its land.

In the 1962 Sino Indian border war, it was India that attempted to seize the disputed territories by force. After losing that war, the Indians have been rewriting their history to sell the story that it was China that invaded India. The facts were as clear as daylight. After the incursion by India, China suffered initial losses which was natural for a country that was hit unprepared. This was the first proof that India was prepared for the war and took the initiative, the element of surprise. A China that was preparing to attack India would not have suffered that kind of losses.

China mounted a counter attack and chased the invading forces all the way to the outskirt of New Delhi. The supremacy of the PLA was unquestionable and the ability or lack of ability of the Indian Army was infamous. The Indian Army simply capitulated. China could take over all the disputed territories it claimed then, open a few more fronts to take over every piece of land it wanted. It did not and withdrew to the earlier disputed border. An aggressive invader would not do such a polite thing. Its policy of not using force to retake its lost territories was consistent as the consequences of such an act would mean perpetual war and hostility with India at the border, just like Israel taking over Palestinian land, the West Banks and Gaza. China seeks to negotiate for a peaceful settlement of the border dispute. Taking them back by means of war, by military force is not an acceptable solution.

The noises made by the Indian Govt then and now are not only mischievous but naiveity. China had all the chances to take over the disputed land many times over. Why would China want to do it now and start a war with India? It is childish diplomacy on the part of India, making childish pranks daily drumming the fear of a Chinese invasion. China is not the USA.

The recent China Japan tension at the Diaoyu Islands is another example. Deng Xiaoping has set aside the island problem with earlier Japanese leaders not to do anything to force a settlement. China is prepared to leave the disputed islands to posterity, to the far future as it is not something that is easy to resolve without going to war. The Japanese were the ones that created this recent tension by pushing the Chinese to react. The Japanese created the farce of buying the islands from another Japanese to create a fait accompli situation. China had no choice but to interrupt this ruse. And Japan is continuing to raise tension by tough talks of force. China could overrun Japan tomorrow if needed. Japan’s cockiness will be their wrong doings.

India better stop talking foolishly to try to raise tension at the Sino Indian border and let the status quo remain. It is better for the two giants to be friendly neighbours and live in peace than to bicker and raise hostility.