Why is China upset over Arunachal Pradesh? - 1 - International News ? News ? MSN India
Why is China upset over Arunachal Pradesh?
The recent protest by China over Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh may have surprised many. But why is China protesting, one may ask. Well, the story, rather the animosity, dates back to the British rule in India and the days of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
When the British were ruling India, they had demarcated the boundaries between India and China. This was called the McMohan Line. This Line runs to a large extent through Arunachal Pradesh's 1030-km unfenced boundary with China. Beijing never recognised the McMohan Line and has been consistently accusing India of taking away 90,000 sq km of its land. But China shows amnesia when it comes to the north where it occupies a chunk of territory in Kashmir that India regards as its own and it runs in to 43,180 sq km of Jammu and Kashmir.
In a statement, China said the two countries had never officially settled the demarcation of their border, and that its stance on the eastern section of the China-India border was consistent and clear-cut.
India has taken the stand that Arunachal is not a disputed territory and that it is very much part of the Indian Union of States.
Said Foreign Minister S M Krishna: "Regardless of what others say, it is the Government of India's stated position that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India. We rest at that."
China has suddenly raised the issue of Arunachal Pradesh for two reasons: It is upset at the large scale democratic participation of the people of the State in the recent elections which resulted in a whopping voting figure of 72 percent.
But the more irritant factor is the forthcoming visit of the Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh. India has refused to intervene saying that the Dalai Lama is free to go anywhere in India and that includes Arunachal Pradesh. China, which could arm-twist President Barack Obama by forcing him to keep off the Lama's visit to Washington recently, finds New Delhi's snub too difficult to digest.
Moreover, the Lama is due to visit the Tawang monastery in Arunachal Pradesh. China desperately wants the monastery in its fold because it is in this sacred place for the Tibetians that the Lama will, in all likelihood, name his successor.
Beijing love to hate the Lama and ever since India's first prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru gave refuge to the Lama and recognised him as the head of the Tibetian government in exile, China has been mad with New Delhi. For the Reds, old scars never heal, they get sharper in pain over the years.
China is also upset and worried at the economic progress made by India and recent endorsement by former US president Bill Clinton has had Beijing worried.
Many see the latest protest by China publicly questioning the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Arunachal Pradesh as an "audacious and reckless move." This is one of the strongest statements to come out of Beijing in recent times though the protest did not refer to Singh by name.
China did protest against the Singh's visit to the state earlier this year but did so informally and in a more muted manner. Singh visited Arunachal on January 31 and February 1, a few days after returning from a trip to China.
In August 2009, China successfully blocked part of a loan worth $ 60 million to India from the Asian Development Bank earmarked for projects in Arunachal Pradesh. India said nothing to that.
Then, to irk India, the Chinese embassy in New Delhi started issuing visas on a separate sheet of passport to residents of Jammu and Kashmir.
Last year, China initially opposed at the Nuclear Suppliers' Group the waiver on trade with India but went along with the consensus at the end.
But India has now upped the ante by questioning how China can be involved in various projects in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (***) when it is a disputed territory.
Hitting back at China, India Wednesday took objection to its engagement in projects in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (***) and asked it to cease such activities taking ''long-term view'' of India-China relations.
"We have seen the reports quoting the president of China as stating that China will continue to engage in projects with Pakistan inside Azad Kashmir. The Chinese side is fully aware of India's position and our concerns about Chinese activities in Azad Kashmir," said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson.
India has taken a strong view of President Hu Jintao's remarks that China will continue to engage in projects with Pakistan inside Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
"Pakistan has been in illegal occupation of parts of the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir since 1947. The Chinese side is fully aware of India's position and our concerns about Chinese activities in Pakistan occupied Kashmir," the External Affairs Ministry spokesman said in a statement.
"We hope that the Chinese side will take a long term view of the India-China relations and cease such activities in areas illegally occupied by Pakistan," he said.
The Chinese President, during a meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani Tuesday, outlined a major project to upgrade the Karakoram highway connecting the two countries overland and Chinese help in the Neelam-Jhelum hydroelectric project in ***.
That is good comment. Almost all the borders issues that India and China are mostly about mountains. I personally dont care whether we gain two uninhabitable mountains or lose two!
