Chinese can't 'see' MacMahon line - India - NEWS - The Times of India
Even as the Indian Army is caught in its own semantic jugglery whether to describe Chinese activities in the eastern theatre as `incursion' or
`transgression' the fact is the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has crossed over into India no less than six times since January this year.
Worse, there might have been many more incursions because India's presence in forward areas remains woefully thin; it's possible other instances of PLA adventurism have gone unnoticed. Field posts of the Indian Army have reported six such cross-overs this year alone four times in Upper Subansiri district in the north and twice in Lohit district, east Arunachal Pradesh. These are termed "harmless transgressions'' or accidental violations of LAC.
Officially, PLA incursions are hard to record because no temporary or permanent structures have been built by the Chinese along the spottily demarcated boundaries.
The bone of contention the 890-km long McMahon Line extends from Bhutan in the west and climbs up to the northeast before taking a 90 degree turn southward for 260 km along the great bend of the Brahmaputra. It runs through treacherous Himalayan hilly terrains. This imaginary line is crescent shaped convex towards the Chinese side. "But the Chinese see the curve bending in the opposite direction and hence the difference in perception,'' a source said.
The Army seeks to play down the violations along this line since there is a bilateral mechanism to sort these problems with the PLA at Border Personnel's Meetings (BPMs) held four times a year.
But the root of the problem in the eastern sector is that while India recognises McMahon Line as the border with China, the Chinese don't. They describe it as "so-called McMahon Line'' which is the eastern part of the 4,057 km-long LAC extending from Ladakh in the west.
The line is named after Sir Henry McMahon, foreign secretary for British India and the chief British negotiator of the convention of 1914 in which the Simla Accord between British India and Tibet was signed. This agreement had effectively made the McMahon line the boundary between India and Tibet.
Their fears have a basis. While the Chinese have built several airports close to the McMahon line, apart from super highways that run parallel to the border, the Indian side has little to show by way of investment.
Former BJP MP Kiren Rijiju he is now with the Congress raised the issue of Chinese incursions in Parliament and expressed doubt about the preparedness of the Indian Army in the event of a conflict. For instance, there's just one motorable road to the forward areas along the border.
Rijiju says the Chinese are intruding in a well planned manner with the objective of closing in around Arunachal Pradesh. India's counter is by building a trans-Arunachal road. Recently, the IAF upgraded a MIG-21 pilot training base at Tezpur to a Su MK-III base. It also plans to bring in more frontline fighters into this area at a base to be developed at Chabua in Dibrugarh. Deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), too, is under consideration.
INFO
Arunachal Pradesh is the largest state in the Northeast almost as big as West Bengal but with the lowest population density (13/sq km) in the country. Even as the shadow of a hostile takeover by Chinese looms, the people here who speak more than 50 dialects are bound together by Hindi as the lingua franca.
Fears of the 1962 conflict still haunt many particularly of the older generation. Not much has been done to remove these fears.
T G Rimpoche, firebrand Buddhist spiritual leader from Tawang, who is also an MLA, says, "No one is more Indian than an Arunachalee. Go to any remote part and everyone here knows Hindi. At the same time, they expect and want the Union government to recognise their sense of patriotism.''
Both Tara and Rimpoche say India should take a tougher line against China on Arunachal. "The Indian attitude is too soft,'' Rimpoche said. Tara says the Indian Army's presence should increase manifold.
Even as the Indian Army is caught in its own semantic jugglery whether to describe Chinese activities in the eastern theatre as `incursion' or
`transgression' the fact is the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has crossed over into India no less than six times since January this year.
Worse, there might have been many more incursions because India's presence in forward areas remains woefully thin; it's possible other instances of PLA adventurism have gone unnoticed. Field posts of the Indian Army have reported six such cross-overs this year alone four times in Upper Subansiri district in the north and twice in Lohit district, east Arunachal Pradesh. These are termed "harmless transgressions'' or accidental violations of LAC.
Officially, PLA incursions are hard to record because no temporary or permanent structures have been built by the Chinese along the spottily demarcated boundaries.
The bone of contention the 890-km long McMahon Line extends from Bhutan in the west and climbs up to the northeast before taking a 90 degree turn southward for 260 km along the great bend of the Brahmaputra. It runs through treacherous Himalayan hilly terrains. This imaginary line is crescent shaped convex towards the Chinese side. "But the Chinese see the curve bending in the opposite direction and hence the difference in perception,'' a source said.
The Army seeks to play down the violations along this line since there is a bilateral mechanism to sort these problems with the PLA at Border Personnel's Meetings (BPMs) held four times a year.
But the root of the problem in the eastern sector is that while India recognises McMahon Line as the border with China, the Chinese don't. They describe it as "so-called McMahon Line'' which is the eastern part of the 4,057 km-long LAC extending from Ladakh in the west.
The line is named after Sir Henry McMahon, foreign secretary for British India and the chief British negotiator of the convention of 1914 in which the Simla Accord between British India and Tibet was signed. This agreement had effectively made the McMahon line the boundary between India and Tibet.
Their fears have a basis. While the Chinese have built several airports close to the McMahon line, apart from super highways that run parallel to the border, the Indian side has little to show by way of investment.
Former BJP MP Kiren Rijiju he is now with the Congress raised the issue of Chinese incursions in Parliament and expressed doubt about the preparedness of the Indian Army in the event of a conflict. For instance, there's just one motorable road to the forward areas along the border.
Rijiju says the Chinese are intruding in a well planned manner with the objective of closing in around Arunachal Pradesh. India's counter is by building a trans-Arunachal road. Recently, the IAF upgraded a MIG-21 pilot training base at Tezpur to a Su MK-III base. It also plans to bring in more frontline fighters into this area at a base to be developed at Chabua in Dibrugarh. Deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), too, is under consideration.
INFO
Arunachal Pradesh is the largest state in the Northeast almost as big as West Bengal but with the lowest population density (13/sq km) in the country. Even as the shadow of a hostile takeover by Chinese looms, the people here who speak more than 50 dialects are bound together by Hindi as the lingua franca.
Fears of the 1962 conflict still haunt many particularly of the older generation. Not much has been done to remove these fears.
T G Rimpoche, firebrand Buddhist spiritual leader from Tawang, who is also an MLA, says, "No one is more Indian than an Arunachalee. Go to any remote part and everyone here knows Hindi. At the same time, they expect and want the Union government to recognise their sense of patriotism.''
Both Tara and Rimpoche say India should take a tougher line against China on Arunachal. "The Indian attitude is too soft,'' Rimpoche said. Tara says the Indian Army's presence should increase manifold.
