Page 36 - Seniors Today June2020

Focus
Ladakh
Centre Stage
This look at the history of the
Indochine rivalry leading to the 1962
aggression, written by Sati Sahni
in 1986, throws light on our current
tension with China
The author at Leh landing strip on the occasion of the
first civilian aircraft landing. Notice the signboard
The outbreak of hostilities of 1962 by China
along the vast border between India and
China was an important milestone in the
long unacknowledged competition of the
two of the oldest civilizations in Asia for
dominance. It is by no means over as the
aggression has opened up more issues than
it could conclude. Perhaps it is by design that
China intends to keep the border issue alive
so as to keep India “occupied” otherwise how
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can anyone explain the repeated shifting of
goalposts by the Dragon? Numerous border
settlement meetings between the two have
taken place prior to the Chinese aggression
of 1962 but every time the Chinese side
threw up a new map, argument and
reference point. This has actually pointed
out that the Chinese side have decided that
the differences will always be kept on the
boil so as to keep India unsettled. It seems
that the Chinese strategy is three-pronged -
1) to force India to divert resources towards
defence rather than shoring up economy
so that India cannot match up to China. 2)
Domination on the Afro-Asian and world
stage. 3) Chipping away on India’s legitimate
borders in mineral rich Sinkiang and Aksai
Chin and gain a foot hold in the Arabian Sea
by way of Pakistan as a dependant state.
Very few (including the Indian government)
could have ever imagined the intense desire
of China to possess Aksai Chin, an area