While the news that both India and China have reached an agreement for disengagement on the north and west banks of Pangong Lake in Eastern Ladakh came on Wednesday, after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s confirmation in both houses of the parliament on Thursday it can be said that the 9-month long deadlock has come to an end, at least for the time being. The words ‘at least….being’ have to be used since there is no guarantee that the ‘situation of peace’ will not change overnight, since it’s China. Meanwhile, the notable thing to observe in Rajnath’s speech was his mentioning of China’s continuing claim of 90,000 sq. kms in the Eastern Sector of Indo-China border which includes the whole of Arunachal Pradesh and its already forcible occupation of more than 43,000 sq. kms of Indian territories. Even though the Eastern Ladakh standoff has reached a solution that has been agreeable to both the nations, until and unless the Arunachal claim issue sees a comprehensive end, it will be foolish to expect any real improvement in long-term Indo-China bilateral relations. As such, while a direct martial confrontation to stop China’s insidious claim that Arunachal Pradesh is their province is not plausible, India must assert itself in every available occasion to nullify the weird claim, as has been seen in the parliament on Thursday.

 

The Eastern Ladakh face-off resulted in tension reaching great heights, comparable only to the scenario that preceded the 1962 Indo-China war. And it was quite an effort by the External Affairs Ministry to break the ice that came after multiple rounds of back-channel negotiations involving high-level armed forces officials of both the countries too. Although the Defence Minister has informed the parliament that the agreement will now give way to full disengagement along with the emphatic statement that the country has not “conceded anything”, among the issues that still remain pending is China’s repeated claim of Arunachal. In response, India’s assertions have not been desirable so far, probably since an immediate Eastern Ladakh type confrontation over the issue is not directly on the horizon. However, intense diplomatic perusals of the level that paved the way for peace in Eastern Ladakh ought to be repeated in this case also. A final word from China that it will henceforth stop parroting the claim is the most acceptable way-out and New Delhi must keep on the efforts in extracting it. Arunachal’s people have done enough for the country if the history of the 1962 war is not conveniently pushed into oblivion.

 

But the repeated whispering campaigning which China is purposefully carrying out is exerting a psychological impact on the state’s people which the Central government must take note of. China anyhow must be compelled to stop dreaming about Arunachal. 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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