The ongoing border dispute between India and China has taken a new turn. Tensions are running high again in the diplomatic arena over a remark by former Indian Army chief and current Union Minister General VK Singh.
The former army chief claims that Indian troops have crossed the border at least five times more often than China. The Chinese Foreign Ministry responded to General VK Singh’s remarks.
China says India’s continued incursions into Chinese territory are unknowingly a confession by the country’s former army chief and current minister. China has also counter-complained that such behavior by India is causing tensions on the border. Observers, meanwhile, say such talks prove that the two countries’ military and diplomatic talks are not gaining much ground in resolving border tensions.
The new controversy over the Sino-Indian border has been sparked by remarks made by former Indian army chief and now a member of the Union Cabinet, BJP MP General VK Singh, at a press conference in Madurai, southern India, on Sunday. Asked at a press conference whether China was building various installations inside Indian territory, General VK Singh said that even if China had entered India, India had entered China at least five times more.
“The border is not clearly marked there,” he said. If they have crossed what China thinks is the Line of Actual Control or LAC, you don’t know how many times we have crossed that line. What we think of as LAC – we are talking about leaking – although India has never announced it, the Chinese media has not come.
General VK Singh added, “I can only tell you that if China assumes that it has crossed the LAC 10 times, then we have crossed the border at least 50 times.” China has taken this statement seriously. Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Jiang Yu’s Regular Press Conference on March 26, 2006 In an attempt to occupy Chinese territory, Indian troops have been crossing the border for a long time and are always trying to create conflict.
“One thing is clear from this – there has been no progress at all in the nine rounds of military talks between India and China,” Ritusha Tiwari, a professor of international relations at Delhi University and a China expert, told the BBC.
He added: “It was not possible to withdraw troops from the disputed area. The way they are talking about crossing each other’s borders with open arrogance also means that there is no possibility of that happening in the near future.
However, despite the fact that the Indo-China border has been relatively peaceful for the past four decades, Professor Tiwari also sees the shadow of the Sino-US trade conflict in Beijing’s aggressive attitude.
