NEW DELHI: Sharad Pawar’s visit to China is significant as it is the first ever by an Indian Defence Minister to Beijing.
While exchanging views on global and regional affairs, the defence minister is likely to voice concern over the ever increasing presence of Chinese arms in the sub-continent. Though further troops reductions by both countries along the 4,000 sq. km Sino-Indo border will be discussed any meaningful action is unlikely, according to top sources,
Coming soon after President R. Venkataraman visit to Beijing, a further political push to the joint working group, formed between the two countries to review the boundary problem, will be given. No military issues like mutual interest in arms sales, technology transfer, cooperation and collaboration are likely to figure during the visit, simply for lack of any meeting grounds between the two Asam giants in these areas.
A remote possibility, however, exists of the Indian delegation seeking cryogenic technology from China.
The choice of the military officials in the delegation is indicative of the fact that the likely chiefs of the defence forces establish a personal rapport with the top Chinese military leadership. The officers accompanying the defence minister are Lt Gen B.C Joshi, Vice-Amarial K.A.S.Z. Raju and Air Marshal B.D. Jayal, all operational commanders, The practice of the three vice-chiefs being in the defence minister’s which as these officers will be retiring soon.
Pawar is likely to voice India’s concern at the “complete encirclement” of India because of massive induction of Chinese military landward. China’s motivation for arms sale to Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and even Nepal are entirely guided by strategic considerations. Arms sales to these countries and even Bhutan, where China has met with some success, has provided Beijing, not only with political and military leverage, but has created a strategically adverse situation for India, military, diplomatically, politically and economically. by spreading her arms trade/export net wider into South-East Asia, West, Asia, Africa and Latin America, China will further undermine India’s interests.
Another serious issue is China’s expanding relationship with Saudi Arabia, which has close links with Pakistan and Thailand for instance, Chinese CSS-2 nuclear capable, intermediate-range-ballistic-missiles exported to Saudi Arabia with range of 2,700 km, can reach Surat in Gujarat and Jodhpur in Rajasthan, The growing Sino-Thailand military relations might lead to Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean. Given China’s close links with Pakistan and Bangladesh, this could be dangerous for India.
China, which exports’ arms both develop its defence industrial and research base, has in the last decade has on an average exported arms over $1 billion annually, In comparison, India’s defence export in 1990-91 was a modest Rs 102 crore.
China’s military trading companies includes CNEIC, which sells nuclear products, CSSC, which sells warships, CPMIEC, which sells tactical and ballistic missiles, NORIN-CO, which sells land based weapons and poly-technologies. Even outside this vast complex of corporations, there are other governmental agencies for arms exports, primarily because Chinese weapons, being cheap and of good middle technology world levels, are finding an ever increasing export market. In terms of technology transfer, China already has access to the western technology, which it selectively employees given its defence philosophy of “modernization to suit people’s war.”
There is little, therefore, that India can offer in terms of technology transfer to Beijing. “With no worthwhile equipment of export potential and given the Chinese arms monopoly in the Third world countries there is no point in studying the Chinese export policy,” said a top officer. Moreover, each country’s arms exports policy is based on its own defence philosophy.
China, on the other hand, can assist India in its cryogenic technology, successfully employed in its space launch version of the CSS-3 missile. Though the two countries signed an agreement for cooperation in spare technology, during the visit of the Chinese Premier Li Peng to Delhi in December 1991, chances of Chinese assistance in cryogenic technology are bleak, according to informed sources.
The main reason of the lack of cooperation in the field or any field of defence collaboration is that Beijing will develop its relations slowly with India, Also, there is the pending border problem, which though temporarily placed on the back-burner by the two countries, has over the years assumed proportions, more serious than the government is willing to make public.
The recently added problem to the already existing Sino-Indo border issue is a new de-facto Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China in Siachen, While Indian troops face Pakistan in the east in Siachen, and nearly 5,000 sq. km of Shaksgam valley in the west is under Chinese occupation since 1963, when it was illegally ceded by Pakistan to China. This means that there are four contestants with regard to Siachen. India, China, Pakistan and the Kashmiris themselves.
Given the present state of the Sino-Indo border, where tension exists primarily in the eastern sector (the unpleasant Sumdorong incident of 1986), as Aksai China in the western sector is already considered politically lost to China, troops reduction by both sides has been undertaken since the visit of late Rajiv Gandhi to Beijing in 1988.
Article extracted from this publication >> Aug 7, 1992
