June 26, 2020
India Faces Triumvirate Border Issues
By Syed Rifaqat Ali
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi's image has taken a beating after PLA killed twenty unarmed Indian soldiers, including a commanding officer, in a bloody skirmish on Indo-China border in Ladakh's Galwan Valley high in the Himalayas.
India now faces a triumvirate of border issues with China, Pakistan and Nepal. And the Coronavirus pandemic, which has sharply risen in India, has rattled the BJP government at the Centre.
On top of this unfavorable scenario, the print and electronic media, about a baker's dozen, are not ready to accept the reality that confronts India today in order to defend Modi so that his image is intact.
Prime Minister Modi told the nation, two days after the conflict in Galwan Valley, that China has not captured even an inch of our territory in Galwan Valley.
This infuriated the Opposition political parties since three retired top army officers --- Lt.-Gen.D.S.Hooda, Lt.-Gen. Harcharanjit Singh Panag and Col. Ajai Shukla --- have been repeatedly saying that China has captured about four kilometres (Finger 4 to Finger 8) of Indian territory in the Galwan Valley.
Today the mood of the nation towards China is hatred and hatred. Effigy of China's supreme leader, Xi Jinping, has been burnt in several states. People are boycotting Chinese goods and want the Indian government to cut off trade with China.
But China does not care what the Indian people think of their country. Since the state assembly election in Bihar (October 2020) and West Bengal (2021) are approaching, the ruling BJP is feeling the heat after the debacle in Galwan Valley.
Gen. V.P. Malik. who lead the Army in the successful eviction of Pakistan troops, said that an aggressive China besides nibbling at Ladakh, could also attempt to take control of Karakoram Pass and the area between it and Shaksgam Valley ceded to it by Pakistan.
Malik further said that "my impression is that north of Pangong Tso, PLA troops have occupied disputed area between Finger 4 and 8, where both sides were patrolling till recently in Galwan Valley, they have taken up positions along the track from Shyok River in the LAC, thus denying our patrols the ability to move up to the LAC.
Gen. Malik told The Indian Express in an interview " There is not even an agreed perception of disputed areas. Until the LAC and disputed areas are delineated, we shall continue to see accidental or deliberate face-offs.
Since 1993, India and China have signed five agreements and protocols on military-level confidence-building measures along the LAC.
But the alarming number of recent incidents indicate that the mechanisms are no longer effective. If the LAC and disputed areas are not delineated soon, India and China may end up deploying much larger forces along the LAC, like what we have on the LOC with Pakistan.
On a separate wavelength, India is facing another dispute. This time it is Nepal in the neighborhood: located on the banks of the river Kali at an altitude of 3600m, the Kalapani territory lies at the eastern border of Uttarakhand in India and Nepal's Sudurpashclim Pradesh in the West.
India claims the area is part of Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district while Nepal believes it to be part of its Dharchula district.
On June 10, Nepal's House of Representatives unanimously approved the tabling of an amendment of the country's constitution which will now formally depict nearly 400 sq.km of Indian territory extending west from the Lipulekh Pass, and including it as part of Nepal's sovereign territory.
While it remains to be passed by the Upper House and signed by the President, the die has been cast. Nepal's foreign minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali declared: "We are for starting dialogue soon. The problem will be resolved through diplomacy."
Short of expecting India to accept the fait accompli determinef unilaterally by Nrpal, what will diplomacy achieve." Regarding India's relations with Pakistan, the abrogation of Article 370 has worsened the situation as there is complete lockdown in Kashmir.
This has infuriated both Pakistan and China and the future does not hold good for India which is facing border issues on three frontiers: China, Pakistan, Nepal. BBC diplomatic correspondent, James Robbins, says that the violence between India and China is very serious and it may develop into full-scale conflict.
Syed Rifaquat Ali is Sydney-based correspondent.
The Journal of America Team:
Editor in chief:
Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Senior Editor:
Prof. Arthur Scott
Special Correspondent
Maryam Turab
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