Arunachal: India Downplays
(Indian Express | July 25, 2004)
The Government maintained a stoic silence today in the face of Chinese disclaimers that Arunachal Pradesh was not a part of India, with officials here insisting that transgressions across the Line of Actual Control was an old story and both sides reported it on a fairly frequent basis. It.s in fact to "settle" the LAC as well as the border and arrive at political parameters that India and China decided, during the visit of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in late June, to name a Special Representative each.
While National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra has been named by New Delhi, Beijing has named its senior Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo to lead the Chinese side. Sources here said that the first meeting between the two had been delayed because Dai was also the Chinese pointperson in the current crisis with North Korea and was recently in Washington to tell the Bush administration about his talks with Pyongyang. As a consequence, the Sino-Indian talks are likely only after the second round of tripartite talks between China, US and North Korea. US Secretary of State Colin Powell had also explained the situation to External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha during his telephone call to the latter on Monday night.
Nevertheless, even as Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan today harshly rejected India's statement that the LAC had been transgressed by the Indian side, adding that China did not recognise Arunachal Pradesh as being a part of India, New Delhi preferred to maintain a low profile on the issue. All MEA spokesperson Navtej Sarna would say was to reiterate that "Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India." Official sources added that "transgressions" across the LAC were quite frequent and happened all along the entire sector from Aksai Chin to Arunachal Pradesh.
They pointed out that because the LAC on the ground was neither demarcated nor recognised by the other side, soldiers and civilians from both countries were often found on territory that both claimed to be theirs. In the Lok Sabha today, while responding to queries, Yashwant Sinha too did not go into the details of the Chinese claim. He only presented the Indian position conveyed on Thursday by his Ministry. Acknowledging that a Chinese patrol had transgressed into the Asaphila area of Upper Subansari district in Arunachal Pradesh, he said this was an area where there was a difference in perception between both countries over the LAC.
But he added that a 1996 agreement between the two countries on confidence building measures specified a certain manner in which situations involving face-to-face contact between personnel/patrols of both countries need to be handled. "In the case in question, these provisions do not appear to have been adhered to by the Chinese side. This matter has already been taken up through diplomatic channels and a response from the Chinese side is awaited," Sinha told the Lok Sabha.
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