September 4, 2020
Indian, Chinese defense ministers in Moscow to ease border tension in Ladakh
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
In a bid to break the continuing deadlock in the ongoing military confrontation in eastern Ladakh since early-May, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday met his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe in Moscow,.
The meeting was held on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting which is attended by Indian and Chinese Defense Ministers.
It is the first highest level face-to-face meeting between the two sides after the border row escalated in eastern Ladakh in early May. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has previously held telephonic talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the border standoff.
There was no official word on the outcome of the meeting between the two defense ministers, which began at 9.30 pm Indian time and continued till late on Friday night, according to Times of India.
China had sought the meeting, which took place at Hotel Metropole where Rajnath Singh is staying, after Indian troops undertook a preemptive military maneuver to occupy multiple heights in the Chushul sector on August 29-30, the Times of India said.
At earlier India-China talks, India has insisted that China restore status quo as it existed in April by withdrawing its forces from the face-off sites at Pangong Tso, Gogra and Depsang, while also reducing its military build-up along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
A U.S. government source told Reuters in Washington that the U.S. assessment is that neither China nor India are interested in pushing the dispute to the point that they would engage in war.
Earlier in the day, taking a swipe at China without naming it, Rajnath Singh told the SCO ministerial meet that a peaceful, stable and secure region “demands a climate of trust and cooperation, non-aggression, respect for international rules and norms, sensitivity to each other’s interest and peaceful resolution of differences".
Rajnath Singh said all member-countries of the SCO, which is home to over 40% of the global population, should work towards the objective of cooperation and non-aggression.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) was established on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai (China). Its current members are: India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzia, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The SCO has six dialogue partners: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey, and Sri Lanka.
The main objective of the SCO is making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region and strengthening mutual trust and neighborliness among the member states.
Meanwhile, Indian foreign minister S Jaishankar is schedule to meet his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on September 10, also on the sidelines of a SCO ministerial meet in Moscow.
Situation along LAC serious
Army Chief Manoj Mukund Naravane on Friday said that the situation along the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC) was “delicate and serious” and the army has taken some precautionary measures to enhance security in the wake of the ongoing developments, Hindustan Times reported.
Naravane reached Leh on Thursday for a two-day security review of the Ladakh sector, where India and China armies have deployed almost 100,000 soldiers and weaponry in their forward and depth areas.
He said the situation has been delicate for over three months. The army chief said talks were on at the military and diplomatic level to resolve the situation. “I am confident that talks can help resolve the border problem fully,” said Naravane, after visiting several forward areas.
Pakistan Factor
Amid rising tensions with China in the Ladakh sector after provocative Chinese actions on the southern bank of Pangong Tso and India’s counter-maneuvers to occupy key heights, Chief of Defense Staff General Bipin Rawat on Thursday said Pakistan could try to take advantage of any threat developing along India’s northern borders but warned that the Pakistani army would suffer heavy losses if it attempted any “misadventure”, according to Hindustan Times.
Speaking at a seminar organized by the United States-India Strategic Partnership Forum on ‘Navigating New Challenges’, Rawat highlighted the threat of “coordinated action” by the militaries of China and Pakistan along the northern and western borders and stressed that the Indian armed forces were capable of handling the joint threat.
The General Bipin Rawat said India’s military strategy to deal with a twin challenge would be based on identifying a primary and a secondary front for conduction operations.
India has strengthened its military posture across the length of the LAC -- from Ladakh to Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh - to deal with any provocation by the Chinese military. India is also keeping a strict vigil on the western front to deter Pakistan from fishing in troubled waters and prevent what could turn out to be a two-front conflict, according to Hindustan Times.
Experts said collusive action by China and Pakistan was a possibility. “While hostility with Pakistan is out in the open, we are now witnessing military coercion by China in the Ladakh sector. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that they could collude militarily. They already have strategic collusion,” said Lieutenant General DS Hooda (retd), a former Northern Army commander.
Reports prepared by the parliamentary standing committee on defense over the last decade have delved into the threat China and Pakistan could pose together. Pakistan was likely to step up hostilities if China were to launch offensive operations against India, a senior military officer told the committee in 2014, the paper said.
Abdus Sattar Ghazali is the Chief Editor of the Journal of America (www.journalofamerica.net) email: asghazali2011 (@) gmail.com
The Journal of America Team:
Editor in chief:
Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Senior Editor:
Prof. Arthur Scott
Special Correspondent
Maryam Turab
Your donation
is tax deductable.
