Hindi-Chini dushmani (Indo-Chinese enmity) increasing exponentially

India China war in October again?

The Pew Global Attitudes Surveys show that the percentage of Indian respondents with negative feelings about China rose from 20% in 2002 to 43% in 2007. A 2008 poll by the same organization found that 62% of Indians considered China’s growing military power a “bad thing” and 45% of them rated China’s growing economy the same way. These figures summarize a massive trust deficit that no amount of sugarcoating can sweep under the carpet.

By October, 1962, India was at war with China. In fact, on October 26, 1962, the centre announced that ``India is being put on a war footing to face the Chinese menace.'' Indian president Dr. Radhakrishnan even proclaimed a state of emergency. Following this announcement, India went into hyperactivity in order to put an end to the two-pronged Chinese aggression in the then North Eastern Frontier Agency (now, Arunachal Pradesh) and Ladakh.

Appearances of bonhomie are proving a hard sell as tensions are rising both along the 3,500 kilometer border and in symbolic verbal exchanges over territorial rights and threats. In May 2009, when the then chief of the Indian Air Force, Fali Homi Major, dubbed China “certainly a greater threat than Pakistan”, it resonated with Indian public opinion in general. Likewise, the British Sunday Times reported on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Communist Revolution that “not everyone in Beijing speaks in the silky language of the foreign ministry [and] the enemy most often spoken of is India”.

The enemy most often spoken of is India\”. In May 2008, China officially resurrected an old claim over the Finger Point area in northern Sikkim after apparently renouncing it in 2003. In June, Beijing unsuccessfully attempted to block Asian Development Bank (ADB) funds to India on the grounds that they included $60 million worth of projects for the \”disputed area\” of Arunachal. “]

Indian Elephant vs. Chinese dragon: The recent Pew Global Attitudes Surveys show that the percentage of Indian respondents with negative feelings about China rose from 20% in 2002 to 43% in 2007. A 2008 poll by the same organization found that 62% of Indians considered China's growing military power a "bad thing" and 45% of them rated China's growing economy the same way. These figures summarize a massive trust deficit that no amount of sugarcoating can sweep under the carpet. In May 2009, when the then chief of the Indian Air Force, Fali Homi Major, dubbed China "certainly a greater threat than Pakistan", it resonated with Indian public opinion in general. Likewise, the British Sunday Times reported on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Communist Revolution that "not everyone in Beijing speaks in the silky language of the foreign ministry [and

The bitterness has been reinforced in recent times by a running semantic battle of wits between the two countries. For all the homilies of good neighborliness, China has of late not shied away from reasserting its claims over India’s northeastern parts – specifically Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.

In May 2008, China officially resurrected an old claim over the Finger Point area in northern Sikkim after apparently renouncing it in 2003. In June, Beijing unsuccessfully attempted to block Asian Development Bank (ADB) funds to India on the grounds that they included $60 million worth of projects for the “disputed area” of Arunachal.

The undefined border between China and Bharat. Bharat insists on its interpretation of the maps. Nehru at first agreed to the facts on the ground then withdrew all maps showing Zang Nan as part of South Tibet. This led to the Indo-Chinese war of 1962. Polemical clashes between Beijing and New Delhi reached a high point just as China was unveiling its 60th anniversary fanfare. Indian authorities discovered that the Chinese embassy in Delhi is issuing visas on separate sheets of paper for Indian applicants domiciled in Jammu & Kashmir state. All other Indian citizens wishing to travel to China get their passports stamped directly, but Indian Kashmiri students and businesspersons have been given "stapled visas" for the past few weeks.

The Sino-Indian equation is so terribly dotted with sleeping dogs being rousted for strategic warfare that Beijing kept lobbying the ADB and secured a consolation victory in August. With the backing of Japan, Australia and some Southeast Asian states, China won a narrow vote preventing the bank from formally acknowledging Arunachal as part of India in the “Disclosure Agreement” that notifies new projects.

This diplomatic shadowboxing has kept in step with Indian strategists’ contentions that Chinese cross-border incursions have been escalating year by year. According to Professor Brahma Chellaney, India’s leading China specialist, “Chinese cross-border forays nearly doubled from 140 in 2006 to 270 in 2008 and have kept that level in 2009.”

India China border dispute. Bharat occupies the territory of Zang Nan (South Tibet) which it calls Arunchal Pradesh. In an era of increased tension, Chinese forces have built a robust network of roads and rails to the border and Bharat has placed SU planes Tezpur to 3200 km or 8500 km with fuel tanks. China took the area in 1962 but gave it back to Bharat. Bharat did not withdraw from the territory and still occupies Chinese territory. For years, Indian strategic elites have argued that Tibet is a card that India must play to offset Chinese irredentism. Much to their chagrin, Indian policymakers in government have avoided reopening the folder on Tibet's status, inviting a chorus of dissenting voices chiding them for "spinelessness".

Polemical clashes between Beijing and New Delhi reached a high point just as China was unveiling its 60th anniversary fanfare. Indian authorities discovered that the Chinese embassy in Delhi is issuing visas on separate sheets of paper for Indian applicants domiciled in Jammu & Kashmir state. All other Indian citizens wishing to travel to China get their passports stamped directly, but Indian Kashmiri students and businesspersons have been given “stapled visas” for the past few weeks.

China India border

India’s Ministry of External Affairs says that it has “taken a serious view” of the matter since the implication is that China is questioning the legality of Kashmir’s accession to India (another old row that was seemingly resolved in the 1990s).

Interestingly, the just-published monthly statement of the Indian Home Ministry refers to progress on road construction “on the Indo-Tibetan border”. This is a departure from the standard Indian formulation for decades of the “India-China border”.

Indo-China War 1962. Jawans keeping a watch in the cold and mountainous terrain of Chushul, Ladakh.

For years, Indian strategic elites have argued that Tibet is a card that India must play to offset Chinese irredentism. Much to their chagrin, Indian policymakers in government have avoided reopening the folder on Tibet’s status, inviting a chorus of dissenting voices chiding them for “spinelessness”.

Professor Chellaney has even drawn an analogy that bolsters the Indian case for questioning China’s control over Tibet. He avers that China is “doing a Taiwan” on Arunachal, that is, attempting to grab Indian territory via the ethnic Tibetan character of some of India’s northeastern states, and adding another “reunification with the mainland” agenda item.

Indo China war 1962

For Indian thinkers, Delhi must turn China’s core claim over Tibet into an issue in order to ultimately defend Arunachal or Sikkim. Already outmatched by China’s military buildup on its side of the border, Indian strategists worry that remaining “sheepish” on Tibet is to be pushed permanently on the back foot.

India china border defines the broder disputes between India and China

On Wednesday, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulated China for the 60th anniversary as an “important milestone” of a “great nation”.

Map of Chinese territory called Aksai Chin. Both parties to the dispute, China and Pakistan agree to the border. India is not a party to this issue but the undemarcated border led to the 1962 war. It is still an issue. Pakistan does not accept the Indian claim to Aksai Chin. This area is Chinese

Formalities aside, the real message India appears to be sending is that the Communist Revolution and its custodians are only welcome if they respect Indian sovereignty and reciprocate the solicitousness that Delhi believes it has accorded. Booming trade, after all, is no substitute for respect in international relations. Asia Times. Sreeram Chaulia is associate professor of world politics at the OP Jindal Global University in Sonipat, India. India and China profess brotherhood By Sreeram Chaulia.

I find even the titles, not to mention the articles published in the two countries, most thought provoking: