China Must Respect Agreements

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has sent a clear message to China that long term tension on the India-China border won’t benefit anyone. He was responding to the recent Chinese reaction to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh. China had objected to the Prime Minister’s visit. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang  Wenbin had said that  China strongly deplores  and firmly opposes the Indian leader’s visit to the East Section of the India-China boundary. Adding that  the Indian moves will only complicate the boundary question and disrupt the situation in the border areas between  the  two countries. He used the Chinese name  for the Indian province  and said the area Zangan is  Chinese territory. To further sharpen the attack on India he said that the Chinese government has never recognised the so-called ‘Arunachal Pradesh’ illegally set up by India and firmly opposes it. The China-India boundary question has yet to be solved. India has no right to arbitrarily develop the area of Zangnan in China. To set the record straight an appropriate response was given to China by the Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Randhir Jaiswal. Giving rebuttal to the Chinese belligerent posturing he stated that Indian leaders visit Arunachal Pradesh from time to time, as they visit other States of India. In a scathing attack on Chinese posturing he said that objecting to such visits or India’s developmental projects does not stand to reason. Further, it will not change the reality that the State of Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. The Chinese side has been made aware of this consistent position on several occasions. It has become a norm for the Chinese to protest over the years when the Indian leaders visit Arunachal Pradesh. China claims the entire state of Arunachal Pradesh, terming it as South Tibet. It has never recognised the Mc Mohan line of 1914 which was signed by British and Tibetan authorities and inherited by the Indian government after Independence. To cut China to size, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has said that China must respect the written agreements between the two countries and it should not meddle and comment on the internal affairs of India. He expressed these views in the India Today Conclave to send a clear message to China. China had strongly resented the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Arunachal Pradesh who went to launch the various development projects to upgrade the infrastructure of the region for the benefit of the people. Not only that, China has been consistently opposing the  permanent Indian membership   of the United Nations Security Council(UNSC).It has gone even further to pose a security threat to India by using the veto power to defend the internationally acclaimed terrorists  patronised by Pakistan  in the international bodies. India’s Permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) Ruchira Kamboj has again lambasted China for its double speak and hypocrisy when it comes terrorism. It is an open secret now that China is upset with Indian rise and is playing psychological games to browbeat India. China knows it well that the Indian defence capability is in the advanced stage and as such it can’t take cudgels with India. So its tactics are meant to test Indian preparedness and work out its operations accordingly. This can be gauged by the Chinese reaction to the launch of Agni-5 recently. China has said that now India has matured in missile technology. In the leading Chinese newspaper the Global times has remarked in its editorial that it has to be accepted that India is strengthening its defence capabilities gradually. India must devise a proactive policy to keep Chinese belligerence under control in the Himalayas so that any attempt by Chinese to violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty is checkmated in time.