India waves the white flag on Chinese incursions

As I've noted before, China is creating a border conflict with India on India's NE frontier. Chinese forces are building roads, shelters, and camps both in India's Arunachal Pradesh and within Bhutan. Chinese Maoist proxies are moving into the Siliguri Corridor and the Chumba Valley to disrupt Indian and Bhutanese security forces. China openly claims ownership of Arunachal Pradesh, and India appears unwilling to go to war to defend it or Bhutan.

Remarkably, the Indian military is now saying, essentially, that it depends on how you look at it. "Maybe China really does own Arunachal Pradesh. Who are we to say who owns what?", seems to be the Indian Army's latest comment on the border incursions.

Or, as the Indian Army Chief would say, "the Chinese have a different perception" of the border than India does. Wow. Perhaps Pakistan has "a different perception of the LAC" in Jammu and Kashmir than India does, too. You have to look at from both sides, right? So if Pakistan invaded Kashmir, maybe the Indian Army would just shrug and leave. I mean, who put the Indian Army in charge of saying which country's military can or cannot come on to Indian soil? I simply have to wonder just what exactly Indian Army Chief Kapoor thinks the military is for? Parades?

If the Indian military doesn't want to go to war with China, that's one thing. Nobody likes war, especially when it marches to your doorstep. But for the Indian military to pretend this is all just some deep, dark philosophical mystery that has them baffled is just completely ridiculous. Just tell China that they can have everything east of the Siliguri Corridor. Maybe they won't go farther than that. If they do, the Indian military can always ponder some more on the artificial and ephemeral nature of borders. After all, if China is under the impression that an Indian state belongs to them, well, maybe they're right.

The issue is not the "number of incursions", but rather that these incursions now are backed up by thousands of Chinese troops encamped on the border.

story from ExpressIndia

Chinese incursions due to different perception: India

Agencies
Posted online: Saturday , February 23, 2008 at 07:25:57
Updated: Saturday , February 23, 2008 at 07:45:25


New Delhi, February 23: Noting that there were different perception of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh, Army Chief Gen Deepak Kapoor has said India would be "as much blameworthy" as the Chinese side for incursions on the two sides.

He, however, said border infrastructure on Chinese side was better than that of India, giving them an "additional capability to bring additional troops", and the government here is "seriously looking" into this "disparity".

"I think a degree of misperception has been built on this issue of incursions. First and foremost, it is a matter of perception. The Chinese have a different perception of the LAC as do we. When they come up to their perception, we call it an incursion and likewise they do," Kapoor said in Karan Thapar's Devil's Advocate programme for CNN-IBN.

He said the level of total number of incursions in 2007 is "somewhat similar to what it has been in the past. So, the feeling that too many incursions have taken place into Indian territory is not right."

Asked whether Indian troops also incur into Chinese territory as often because of differences of perception about the LAC, the army chief replied: "that's right. Which they would call an incursion into their side. So, therefore, to that extent, we would be as much blameworthy for that kind of incursion up to our perceived LAC."

Kapoor dismissed media perception that Chinese incursion were a sign of muscle-flexing by Beijing indicating something worse to come.