NEW DELHI: The forthcoming visit of defence minister Sharad Pawar to China this July is the first ever by an Indian defence minister at the invitation of his counterpart in Beijing, and signifies the desire on both sides to understand each other’s security Perceptions at the highest level.
A survey of Sino-Indian relations shows that the strategic debate hinges on five major issues. Foremost among them is the boundary problem. In essence the border dispute is between Indias north and the Tibet region of China.
At the time of liberation of China in 1949, there was no boundary dispute between the two countries. The Sino-Indian boundary dispute started with the Chinese annexation of Tibet in the early 1950s, culminating in the defensive force by it in 1962 to resolve the issue.
The Nathu La and Sundorong China incidents apart both nations have shown a certain maturity in trying to resolve the issue through negotiations since the late 1960s. Now both sides are aware 1962 cannot be repeated to further ensure this position, a number of confidence-building measures are being discussed. The Chinese may use Pawars visit to discuss some of these measures at the political level.
Equally important is the issue of the future of Tibet which the Chinese themselves acknowledge is a problem area for them, The presence of 100.000 Tibetans along with their spiritual head in India has added an extra dimension to the problem, Therefore within the population of Tibet as an autonomous region of China, the issue here is to be discussed by all the parties concerned.
Thirdly China is an acknowledged nuclear weapons power the Indian strategic community considers is a potential nuclear adversary. This is further accentuated by the Chinese assistance to Pakistan in the latter’s nuclear weapons program.
To have a greater understanding among the three major actors of this part of the world, a bilateral dialogue between India, Pakistan and China will go a long way in eliminating nuclear threats from the region. Fourth is the Chinese arms supply to India’s neighbors Bangladesh, Burma, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, Except Pakistan, in the case of the remaining three, Chinese arms supplies constitute more than 80% of their arms acquisition.
Similarly, the Chinese have their concerns about Indian arms supplies to Indo-China region. This is considerably alerting the strategic environment in that region as well as the Indian sub-continent. In these circumstances discussions between the two giants of Asia will go a long way in ensuring peace and stability in the region.
Lastly, the reported expansion of the Chinese navy is causing apprehensions in the entire Indian Ocean region. These apprehensions were accentuated by the recent enactment of a law on territorial waters, their military actions in Spray islands and plans to acquire an aircraft carrier.
In fact, some of the Indian Ocean states have started looking upon China as a long-term threat some of these substantive issues can be taken up during Pawars visit.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 31, 1992
