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Posted on 12/25/2001 3:21:57 PM PST by Ranger

The “hostile actions” by the Chinese in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim is, according to strategic experts, part of a well-thought-out move to corner India on two fronts. China has also beefed up its presence in Myanmar’s Coco Islands on the Bay of Bengal and plans to move in two aircraft carriers that are under construction now to the area.

“India cannot concentrate exclusively on the western theatre with Pakistan if China undertakes these measures along Arunachal and Sikkim. And it could well be that it is goading Pakistan to anti-Indian actions in Rajasthan, Punjab and Kashmir. A distracted India is a weaker India and China stands to gain the most from it,” pointed out a senior army officer.

In fact, say serving and retired officer, the situation now is quite similar to the pre-1962 situation when Beijing lulled New Delhi into a false sense of complacency.

China constructed a load linking Tibet with Xinjiang Ugyur region in 1961. This road passed through Aksai Chin area of India and to thwart any further moves by Chibna, India sent its troops to defend that territory in November 1961. By October 1962, China launched a full-scale aggression.

“This time, too, China has started acting on its claims over Arunachal and Sikkim and has constructed roads and rail links right up to our borders. It is encouraging new Chinese towns just across the border to spill over slowly into India. It is upgrading its formidable military infrastructure in the Small Coco and Great Coco Islands by stationing radar squadrons, extending two runways and beefing up the naval base there.

"At the same time, Chinese leaders are talking of peaceful resolution of the border issue with India and are trying to charm the Indian leadership into thinking that China is no threat to India. Our Foreign Minister said as much when he visited Beijing in June 1999, though our Defence Minister did say in April 1998 that China continues to represent a security threat to us,” said a retired army officer who did not want to be named.

China, said a strategic expert, has a “long memory” and has never shied away on taking concrete action on its territorial claims.

“Look at tactics China has employed to keep Japan and other countries on a leash. Apart from keeping India under pressure on the eastern front, China has been employing Pakistan as a surrogate belligerent to jeopardize India’s security,” said an analyst.

China has also been sending out conflicting signals—a few months after Jaswant Singh declared that China was no security threat to India, Chinese President Jiang Zemin made highly derogatory references to India while speaking to President Bill Clinton.

Zemin reportedly said that India would be dealt with strongly if it does not stop providing shelter to Tibetan refugees and continues to oppose China’s efforts to integrate Arunachal and Sikkim with the rest of that country. The USA’s Central Intelligence Agency sums it the best: “Beijing treats India as a country to be threatened, belittled and kept in check”. This, and other such assessments by the CIA, can be found in the CIA Factbooks.

According to the army sources, India will take at least a decade to upgrade its infrastructure in the North East to what China has on its side of the LAC now. It is learnt that the Indian Air Force (IAF) installations in the eastern and northeastern region have also been put on alert.

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