Sikkim solution: Should India confront China?

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China has opened a new front in the boundary row with India and has dragged the entire Sikkim boundary into the dispute. Chinese troops have made as many as 71 intrusions this year into the Himalayan state and show no signs of stopping.

The Indian government has only chosen to disclose this now, with the latest incursion being reported on Monday.

Beijing has served notice that it is disputing not just the Finger Area, as has been widely reported, but the entire Sikkim boundary.

India, which has not challenged the intruding Chinese troops even once, seems caught in a response paralysis. That’s the issue CNN-IBN debated on the show Face the Nation: Should India confront China on the incursions in Sikkim?

Debating the point was a panel comprising Former Chief of Indian Army Staff, General (Retd) V P Malik; Bureau Chief, People's Daily Ren Yan and Comment Editor, Mail Today Manoj Joshi.

Gen Malik kickstarted the debate and said he was more surprised than shocked by the frequency of the incursions, considering in 2003, China had said Sikkim would be recognised as part of Indian territory. “I won’t say my blood boils but I will say that I am surprised. The India-China border is 4,000-km long. Our border along Sikkim is 605-610 km. This is one area where the border is fully demarcated. We’ve had it peaceful since 1967 when Nathu La operation took place,” he said.

China too has reacted to the reports, playing safe and calling the border issue a “very sensitive” one. However, Ren Yan, the Chinese representative of sorts on the show, said he doubted the veracity of the report itself. “If such report is true, why isn’t Indian govt reacting to it? In past, such reports have been found to be untrue. I think the border between India and China is peaceful according to the 1993 peace and tranquility agreement,” he said.

Chinese whispers: India’s got it wrong

Yan substantiated his argument by citing the recent bonhomie between the two countries, the improved trade ties and global recognition.

In 1890, there was an Anglo-Chinese convention which defined the water share – Teesta on the Indian side and Moochoo river on the Chinese side. Water cans were put up but there was no joint demaracation. Joshi said that could possibly define why the stands on intrusions are not clear. “It is possible that in a space of 1 km there was disagreement as to where the cane should be. I think we need to jointly demarcate the border,” he said.

However, the situation seems to have gone beyond that stage. The incursions are no longer limited to the Finger Area. In Wednesday’s reports, the Chinese troops were reported to have intruded up to 1 km into Sikkim. This prompts the most obvious question: Is China reconsidering Sikkim question? Or is it a settled issue?

Yan cleverly evaded question and put the blame on India instead. “Many reports in the Indian media are wrong. “The border between two countries was making things complicated,” he said.

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Joshi interrupted the debate and jumped to the defence of Indian government. “Two weeks ago when Pranab Mukherjee was in China, this issue was discussed and China once again reiterated they recognised the 1890 convention. They said it two weeks ago, they agreed with it in 2003 and also back in 1890. I do not think there’s a dispute over border. It’s just demarcation,” he said.

But interestingly, Joshi’s argument also seemed to indicate that there was indeed confusion over the border lines. “After all you are going by an 1890 map,” he said.

India’s policy: Love thy neighbour

V P Malik rejoined the debate, strongly countering Yan’s allegation of the reports being false. “One of the Chinese ambassadors in India once told me that there were a lot of things they didn’t get to know because the PLA was more autonomous than the Indian Army at the border,” he said. Malik also responded to demarcation of border issue, disagreeing with Joshi. He said if that were the case, why would China suddenly rake up the Sikkim issue.

There are many critics who believe India is too soft on China. We have failed to raise the border issue strongly enough with China, they say. But Gen Malik said the border question was more political than geographical and that India had expressed its concerns more than China had. “As far as raising the question with China is concerned, I had a chat with some people after Pranab Mukherjee returned from China. They told me it was India – and not China – that breached the topic. The Sikkim question – whether it’s a part of India or not – is a political question. There’s no problem as far as the boundary is concerned,” he said.

Joshi cited the example of 1987 when China expressed concern over Indian deployment in northern Sikkim and indicated the boot is on the other leg. “Northern Sikkim is viewed by China as a very crucial area for their security. I don’t know if these incursions have anything to do with that,” he said.

But Malik did not agree with Joshi. He said Indian troops had been reduced on northern Sikkim and there had been no issues since. Malik also raised, yet again, a pertinent question: Why was China bringing up Sikkim now?

How should India raise the issue?

V P Malik: It’s a political issue and China must put a stamp on it. As for the boundary, it’s already demarcated and the problems of mapping can be resolved using GPS techniques etc.

Manoj Joshi: We should confront China and ask them bluntly if the incursions are what they are. The question is not if we are soft, it’s whether we are being too sensitive. I think this has nothing to do with the border, China is sending out a larger political message.

Ren Yan: The border is a complicated question. Such problem can be solved by peaceful dialogue at a higher level.

Final results of SMS/Web poll:

Should India confront China on the incursions in Sikkim?

Yes: 93 per cent

No 7 per cent

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