By By Afshain Afzal
Quite recently, it was reported that Chinese Navy ships visited Indian port of Cochin to impress upon Indian strategists that New Delhi is no match to Chinese military might. Many Indian strategists and analysts consider that Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean is a warning to Indian Navy that Chinese can show their presence every where.It is being feared that with seven destinations to support China including in Maldives, Bangladesh, Burma, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Pakistan, India stands no where. Indian Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma is also scheduled to visit Sri Lanka shortly to improve defence ties and keep China off Sri Lanka. It is one record that Indian former Defence Minister, George Fernandez claimed that Indias Enemy No.1 was China and not Pakistan. If we link the presence of Chinese Navy in Indian Ocean, the claim of George Fernandez seems true but is it so? The western powers are furnishing intelligence input to New Delhi that China is planning to wage a war and destabilize India to gain supremacy in Asia. The fears and apprehensions need to be analyzed in its true perspective.
It is interesting to note that Commander in Chief of Israeli Navy, Vice Admiral Elizer Marom, who visited India in January this year and US Navy Admiral Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) who visited India in April this year before the annual Indo-U.S Malabar exercise, warned New Delhi about Chinese designs against India.
It is true that China is much superior militarily as compared to India but it does not mean that Peking intends invading India or disintegrating it into smaller independent states. A recent article on Dragons plan to split India in many parts appeared in the media.
There was a lot of hue and cry in the Indian political and intellectual circles about the Chinese intensions but should we take media articles so seriously? It is a bitter fact that there is a dispute between India and China over Arunachal Pradesh and part of Jammu and Kashmir state that Pakistan gifted China in 1962 but things are not so serious. India must realize the fact that China is a mature country and would not get instigated on western provocation. It is responsibility of the Indian politicians and other pressure groups not to push China to an extant that there is no option but to get hostile.
Former Indian Army Chief and other senior officer of Indian Armed Forces claimed to be capable to tackle both China and Pakistan at the same time. However, the fact cannot be denied that Indian Navy and the Air Force are two institutions that require much attention. It was Jawaharlal Nehru who said, If you wish to be secure on land, you should have supremacy on the sea but probably there is a strong lobby in India who is bent upon failing the desire of Jawaharlal Nehru to come true.
The corruption in Indian navy and Indian Air Force has made many Indian to think that India can never become Navy and Air power in the region. The kickback and percentage has become pet words for the Indian Defence, Naval and Air Attaches posted at various Indian Embassies throughout the world. Former Indian Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta has been quoted to have said, In military terms, both conventionally and unconventionally, we can neither have the capability nor the intention to match China.
He said that it is foolhardy to say India is equal to China militarily. India is no match for China whether it is Air Force, Navy or Army.
Indian interference in Xiang province and Tibet is what western countries openly projects but the fact cannot be denied that US Presidents including President Barack Hussain Obama had been holding confidential meetings with Dalai Lama and citizens of Xiang. There is also no truth in the claim that China is aiding Maoist to destabilize India. Both India and China need to realize that there is a western plot to destabilize Asia region by creating difference between the major powers in this region. China is a big country but there is no naval built-up against India or any other country in the region.
However, Indian military built-up near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and Line of Control (LoC), on the instigation of western powers might turn into matter of concern. Western nations including US, Britain and Israel are furnishing wrong information through third countries to Beijing, New Delhi and Islamabad to make them suspicious against each other. It is understood that once tension is heightened, the chances of full fledge war would automatically increase.
It is in the interest of all the countries of the region, especially China, India and Pakistan to shun their difference and work with perfect harmony for joint defence of Indian Ocean as well as land and sky. Once this is achieved, no one would be able to stop development and peace from reigning in the region.
Is Chinese threat to India real?
