India China trade route over Nathu La pass. Increased trade, not belligerence, is the need of the hour the Chinese need to understand. Photo Credit: Photo Copyright © Vijainder K ThakurNovember 10, 2009, (Sawf News) - After appearing to relent, China has stepped up its anti India rhetoric over the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh once again.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Qin Gang told reporters, "China strongly opposes the Dalai Lama's visit" to Arunachal Pradesh and the trip had "fully exposed the anti-Chinese nature of the Dalai Lama."
He added that Beijing had "expressed its strong dissatisfaction with India allowing the Dalai Lama's visit to the disputed area."
China was probably reacting to the Dalai Lama's remarks on Sunday referring to Chinese opposition to his visit.
"It's usual for China to oppose my visit. It's baseless to say my trip is anti-China. My visit is not political at all," the 74-year-old leader said after prayers at the famed Tawang monastery.
"Wherever I go, I have two objectives: To promote human values, and promote harmony," he added.
Elsewhere, Hu Shisheng, a researcher of Southern Asian studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times Sunday:
"The Dalai Lama went to southern Tibet at this critical moment probably because of pressure from India. By doing so, he can please the country that has hosted him for years."
Hu then turned belligerent saying:
"When the conflict gets sharper and sharper, the Chinese government will have to face it and solve it in a way India has designed.
"India may have forgotten the lesson of 1962, when its repeated provocation resulted in military clashes.
"India is on this wrong track again."
India's minister of state for external affairs, Shashi Tharoor, on Tuesday denied the Chinese newspaper's report that the Dalai Lama was visiting Tawang under pressure from India.
Hu and many in the Chinese government seem to be living in the past and the comfort of their offices and houses in Beijing. They need to get acquainted with both the times as well as the terrain on the Indo-Tibet border.
My recent trip to North Sikkim was reassuring. The PLA is no match to the well trained and motivated Indian army, and could face some nasty surprises were it to embark on an adventure, learning lessons from India instead of teaching them.
The Chinese soldier that I shook hands with was shabbily turned out and hadn't showered in many days, unlike the Indian soldiers that I met. He scurried around without smile or confidence clicking photographs like a well programmed automation.
The Chinese soldier that I shook hands with photographed all of us, like they do with all visitors! Photo Credit: Photo Copyright © Vijainder K ThakurChinese analysts need to remember that an infrastructure build up can only win the battle for them provided their soldiers are motivated. The grit and tenacity of the Indian soldier is not something to be taken lightly, as well trained Pakistani regulars perched on commanding heights found out during the Kargil operations.
The Chinese seem to forget the treatment meted out to them in 1967 at Nathu La and Cho La after they massacred Indian soldiers from 2 Grenadiers who were trying to fence the border. Indian retaliation was as accurate as it was measured, reflecting the nation's confidence.
Squandering lives and resources in battle is madness but this is something the Chinese don't seem to get easily.
A description of the skirmish at Nathu La in 1967 at the war memorial. Photo Credit: Photo Copyright © Vijainder K ThakurNews Copyright © Sawf News. May not be reproduced without explicit written permission