‘China doesn’t accept customary alignment of the boundary’
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh describes Sino-indian border crisis to Parliament
Seeking to portray a strong government in control of a major national security challenge, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today made a statement in Parliament on China’s incursions across the Line of Actual Control (LAC), vowing to react forcefully to any threat to India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“I want to inform this august House, and through it the entire nation, that we are prepared for all outcomes to ensure that India's sovereignty is maintained,” he said.
The statement, which traced the history of the boundary dispute from the 1950s to the present, was the government’s response to the opposition parties’ demand for a discussion on how troops of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) were allowed to trespass into Indian territory.
While the government agreed to issue a detailed statement, it did not accept the opposition’s demand for a full discussion on the ongoing crisis.
Rather than fielding Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has earlier denied any violations of the LAC or PLA transgressions into India, or Home Minister Amit Shah, who was admitted into hospital on Saturday night, the government put forward the defence minister who took the safe, nationalist path by appealing to the opposition and the country to stand by the brave soldiers. “Ham apne jawaanon ke saath kadam se kadam mila kar challenge (We will support our soldiers, marching in lockstep with them),” he said.
Recounting the crisis, he said that since April, it became apparent that the PLA was on the Eastern Ladakh border in larger numbers and with extra armaments. In early May, the PLA began interdicting India’s traditional patrolling patterns in the Galwan Valley. China also attempted
LAC transgressions at several other places, including Kongka La, Gogra and the north bank of the Pangong Lake.
Avoiding any mention of Chinese occupation of Indian-claimed territory, the defence minister said, “Our troops observed these attempts and took counter measures.”
“We have informed China through diplomatic and military channels that such activities constitute a unilateral attempt to change the status quo, which is on no account acceptable to India,” he added.
Referring to the clash of June 15, in which 20 Indian soldiers died, the defence minister cloaked the actual events in nationalist rhetoric. “Where there was a need for patience, our soldiers displayed patience and where there was a need for bravery, they displayed bravery,” he said. “We want to resolve the current situation through dialogue and we have ongoing diplomatic and military engagement with the Chinese.”
He spelt out three principles that he said guided the Indian side in discussions. First, both sides must respect the LAC; second, neither side must disturb the status quo; and third, both sides must adhere to the agreements and understanding arrived at over the years.
At present, the Chinese have mobilised in large numbers along the LAC and there are many “friction areas” in the areas of Kongka La, Gogra and the north and south banks of Pangong Lake. India, he said, has implemented a “counter deployment” in these areas to safeguard its security interests.
Choosing not to get into details, Rajnath stated: “There are sensitive operational issues around the current situation, so I cannot reveal too many details, even if I wanted to.”
Seeking to simplify a complex dispute, Rajnath presented to Parliament a detailed summary of the unresolved boundary question. He said China had usurped 38,000 sq km of Indian territory in Ladakh, while in 1963, Pakistan gifted China with 5,180 sq km of territory in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK). He said China also claims 90,000 sq km of Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh.
“China does not accept the customary and traditional alignment of the boundary,” he said.
Rajnath said the two countries had agreed that the boundary dispute was a complex issue that required patience and that a “fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution needed to be arrived at through peaceful dialogue,” with an atmosphere of “peace and tranquility” on the border.
He said “there is no commonly delineated LAC along the border” and that both countries had differing perceptions about where the LAC ran. Attempts were made from 1990 to 2003 to arrive at a common understanding of the LAC but then China decided to discontinue this. Consequently, there are overlapping perceptions of the LAC in several places.
Both New Delhi and Beijing have blamed successive boundary confrontations on these “overlapping perceptions” of the LAC, which require patrols from both sides to cross into territory claimed by the other.
The government's statement comes at a time of stepped up tension in Eastern Ladakh, with Indian and Chinese troops confronting each other directly as they occupy tactically advantageous heights to the south of Pangong Lake.
Referring to the clash of June 15, in which 20 Indian soldiers died, the defence minister cloaked the actual events in nationalist rhetoric