Foreign Affairs Office of MND

97 per cent of India’s trade is by sea and hence the safety of SLOCS is as important to India as China. India is aware of Chinese submarine activity in Indian Ocean region and India believes that India Ocean belongs to all.

the equivalent of Whatsapp, being used in 200 countries. Tencent has been listed at number 4 out of the 100 top level Internet companies by Forbes. The company has 24,000 employees and also has offices in Delhi and Mumbai. 50 per cent of money is earned through the gaming application. Edgarchen, Manager Government Affairs. Tencent claimed that Tencent has nothing to do with the Chinese Government and owes no obligations to the latter. The Senior Colonel Yang Yujun, Spokesperson and Deputy Director-General, Information Office of MND, briefed about the organisational structure of Chinese Army and China’s National Defense Policy. It was emphasised that China will never attack but will definitely counter-attack, when attacked. The Defense Policy includes “Crackdown on separatist forces for East Turkistan and Tibet Independence.

The discussions revolved around:

April 2013 Intrusion in Depsang:

Explanation given was that since the nearest Chinese location was very cold, the local commander decided to pitch some tents in the sunny area of Depsang but when India asked them to vacate the location, a hawkish stance was adopted by China. China had no intention of making any intrusion.

On being questioned what possible threat China faces and who can attack China, response was that this must be related to capability and not intent, as the latter could change overnight. The US has very potent capabilities and countries like Japan and South Korea have considerable military prowess as well.

Threat:

Code of Conduct along Border:

It was pointed out that immediately after signing of the BDCA, now China was proposing yet another agreement about ‘Code of Conduct’ along the border. Response was that this is to eliminate chances of any possible clash.

Indian side pointed out that Chinese claims in the Western and Eastern Sectors have been expanded over the years along the LAC. It was conveyed to the Chinese side that the benefit of resolving the border would be opening up of Indian ports to China.

Boundary Settlement:

Pakistan:

The stance of Pakistan continuing to be a victim of terrorism was repeated by the Chinese side. Mention was also made of Pakistan’s offensive in North Waziristan. We pointed out that eyewitness accounts on the Internet indicate nothing much would be achieved, radical leaders having left the area. It was also conveyed that as per the Syrian Ambassador at Delhi, some 5,000 Pakistan Taliban are assisting rebels in Syria and some would have joined the ISIS. On the question of ETIM radicals in Pakistan, Chinese response was that China has good cooperation with Pakistan in counter-terrorism.

On the question that while China is exporting arms to all of India’s neighbours, why does China not respond to global tenders floated by India for importing arms since this would be the best form of CBM, the Chinese side was caught by surprise. Response was that this needed discussion at government-to-government basis.

Indian side conveyed that Chinese concerns about possible Indo-US alliance against China are baseless as India is a non-aligned country. At the same time, 97 per cent of India’s trade is by sea and hence the safety of SLOCS is as important to India as China. India is aware of Chinese submarine activity in the Indian Ocean region and Indian believes that the India Ocean belongs to all.

The scourge of terrorism affects all and China looks towards

Weapon Exports:

Indo-US Relationship:

Terrorism:

cooperation with all countries to combat this menace.

Shanghai Naval Garrison

The brief was given by Senior Captain Wu Xiao Deng. Shanghai is strategically important to China although no Fleet HQ is based in Shanghai. The discussions were on: India-China cooperation on the high seas is important for protection of SLOCs and against sea piracy and terrorism. Shanghai Naval Garrison responsibility is from the coastline and beyond. Responsibility on rivers inland is of the army. Responsibility to counter smuggling of narcotics and arms from sea is that of the police and the Naval Garrison cannot comment on such events over last five years. Minesweeping is undertaken when the situation so demands. Interaction between the Indian Navy and PLAN needs to be increased and possibility of navy-to-navy joint exercises explored. The delegation was taken aboard a 2013 commissioned state-of-the-art Corvette that has been constructed in just one year. The visit essentially was a public relations exercise by China. According to Rong Changhai, Deputy Director, International Liaison Department of ACJA who accompanied the Indian press delegation, China plans to send a similar delegation to India next year (for which they are looking for an invitation from India) and hope to make this a regular affair to improve understanding of each other.