Click to play videoNew Delhi: India runs scared of China, says a senior Indian diplomat. He was commenting on the controversy over China refusing a visa to an Indian official from Arunachal Pradesh.
Another official however hinted that India may have deliberately provoked the incident.
The retired diplomat said the Arunachal official may have been included in the team of 106 IAS officers to test the Chinese.
If he had been given a visa, India could have cited it as proof that China's claim to Arunachal and that all Arunachalis are Chinese citizens, has no basis. But India's attempt did not succeed.
Other diplomats are offended at China raising the visa issue just two days before the team was to leave for Beijing. They say it reflects China's confidence in the defensive Indian mindset.
“We have just sat back when China makes claims on Arunachal Pradesh and does nothing. We have a tendency to run scared of China , that's one thing we should avoid, said former diplomat G Parthasarathy.
Arunachal Pradesh is not the only part of India that China lays claim to, China occupies Aksai Chin in Ladakh.
It also holds the Shaksgam Valley and border areas in Himachal. The Bara Hoti grasing grounds in Uttaranchal is another claim.
India should retaliate the diplomat says on Tibet and Taiwan that China claims as its own.
“We gave up any card that we had on Tibet, we eroded our position on the district identity of Tibet with the passage of time. Unless you retain those cards, for example can we reciprocate by say agreeing to a ministerial level delegation from Taiwan. Like other ASEAN countries do like Japan does,” said Parthasarathy.
But baiting China so openly carries its own risks – it's not even clear if the MEA will at all respond to China's latest diplomatic put down.
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