Manohar Parrikar categorically denied that any incident of transgressions on behalf of the Chinese troops into Barahoti of Uttarakhand did not take place. To quote him, well it did not take place ‘exactly as reported.’
He reasoned that the Indo-China border has not been formally demarcated and there are areas where both sides patrol up to their respective perception of LAC (line of actual control) resulting in temporary transgressions.
He further states that Barahoti is one such area where two Chinese personnel transgressed 200 meters into the Indian territory on 22 July 2016 who had to return back after being warned. The Minister also informed that there is a well-established system to settle such issues through flag meetings and this incident of temporary transgressions, has been taken up through the established mechanism.
But the question is that why is it always the Chinese personnel who are found inside the Indian territory by ‘mistake?’ How many Indian soldiers have committed the same ‘mistake?’ and ventured into Chinese territory so far?
Is it also by mistake that the entire South China Sea, Arunachal Pradesh, and Senkaku Islands are claimed by Chinese as part of their territory? The only logical explanation to this is that the Chinese imperialism is on the rise. It has already gulped away the sovereignty of Pakistan (well Pakistan wanted to bid it away too; considering China Pakistan Economic Corridor meant more funds in an economy that refuses to stand up) and now wishes to keep the other nations on their toes by attacking their self-respect. China won’t send its armies to fight a full-fledged war anymore, it would keep sending a few soldiers who would ‘by mistake’ and not ‘by design’ would be found strolling around taking a birds eye view of how much prepared its rivals are and then these soldiers would be sent back where they would inform their peers of what they saw while we will keep wondering if the Chinese soldiers are so dumb that they keep making the same mistake over and over again.
Manohar Parrikar and NSA Ajit Doval would be knowing these games; they are seasoned hands but the question is that there must be a channel through which Indian government must keep the nation informed without sounding any alarms. Let’s be clear, we need to be aware of a neighbour which wants to build an empire not by building it, by stealing.
