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Elephant Walk
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With the spectre of two-and half-front war, India wakes up to bolster its defences
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Lt. Gen. B.S. Pawar [Retd
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By Lt Gen. B.S. Pawar (retd)
India has been feeling the pressure of a newly assertive and aggressive China for some time now. The
incidence of intrusions, which at times have been fairly aggressive, have been high along the entire
Line of Actual Control (LAC), including in areas hitherto accepted as settled.
Over the last decade, China has assiduously built up military infrastructure in Tibet. It has rebuilt/upgraded
airfields in and around the area. All along the 4057 km long LAC, it has been developing better forward
defences, extensive road and rail networks and logistic installations. Today, it can rapidly move 30
divisions to their launch pads along the LAC at short notice, outnumbering Indian forces by three to
one. Additionally, China has deliberately not resolved the boundary issue with India, despite several
rounds of talks between political interlocutors and many meetings of the Joint Working Group. Even the
LAC has not been clearly demarcated, neither on military maps, nor on the ground, due to China’s intransigence.
Perhaps this is part of a hedging strategy, wishing to retain a pretext for punitive military action
against India.
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China therefore has emerged as a major challenge and a possible military threat. Chinese actions and
responses to issues affecting/related to India are a clear pointer to the same. China’s self-image as
a pre-dominant power of South Asia; its fast paced military modernisation and positioning of missiles
in Tibet (India centric); its compulsive use of Pakistan to keep India engaged on her western front
and off balance militarily; its strategy of encircling India through her neighbours and confining her
within the subcontinent; its totally critical approach to India’s nuclear status; its negative disposition
in allowing India to become a permanent member of the Security Council; its duplicity in the Nuclear
Suppliers Group (NSG) negotiations; its claim over all of Arunachal Pradesh; its ‘String Of Pearls’
strategy to contain India and develop the capacity to dominate the northern Indian Ocean — all serve
as indicators and warnings that India cannot afford to ignore.
Two Front Dilemma
The core of China’s strategy in the South Asian region, revolves around its strategic alliance with
Pakistan. It calls the relationship ‘Higher than the mountains and deeper than the seas’. In more prosaic
terms, China has done its best to deny India a peaceful periphery, by providing unprecedented levels
of nuclear and conventional military support to Pakistan. It directly assisted Pakistan’s nuclear weapons
programme, passing on nuclear warhead designs and highly enriched uranium. It transferred M-9 & M-11
nuclear capable ballistic missiles. It also built Gwadar port on the Makran Coast, which could easily
be upgraded to a naval base for Chinese naval vessels.
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