Chinese ploys

Surojit Mahalanobis
Every time India wants to trust China, China fails it. Bailing out notorious Pakistani terrorist Zaki-ur Rahman Lakhvi and the terror-mastermind Syed Salahuddin, who are wanted in India for heinous crimes against innocent people of India, defies its own security paradigm within China (Cf. the Edit in The Times of India issue dated June 25, 2015).
Against the worldwide demand for construction of peaceful culturally-thriving international relations in the subcontinent among China, ASEAN, and the SAARC nations, such irresponsible booster by China to the terror minds is pathetic.
India always helped China in international relations ever since its own independence, which includes lobbying for China’s inclusion in the United Nations Security Council.
Always India reciprocated to Chinese proposals for development projects in Asia. Yet China continues to fail Indian hopes for everlasting bonding with it.
Even in the recent case setting up the Asian Industrial Investment Bank (AIIB), India has been one of the firsts to offer its participation as a founding member much before other worlds responded or did. But China is non-challant with its designs against India.
A case in point as under may also be raised here which tells how China continues to brainwash international consumers about its anti-India feelers in world markets.
During the mid-week of this June in a furniture and home furnishing house, Home Center’s, retail showroom at the prestigious The Mall of The Emirates at Dubai, a geo-political Globe with positions of countries of the world was displayed just at the entrance of the retailers. The Globe, usable also as a table lamp, mainly offers educational studies of the world map at junior school levels, and has been manufactured in China.
The merchandising display of the Globes was brilliant, and would seldom miss the strolling consumers’ attention. The maps of China, Pakistan and India were shown despotizingly enough to raise eyebrows. Entire Arunachal Pradesh and Ladkh regions have shown within China as Chinese territories. There was no mention about the areas even as “disputed”.
As a mark of ageold solidarity to friendly Pakistan, the Chinese manufacturers have gifted entire Indian Kashmir valley and parts of Jammu to Pakistan showing them as Pakistani soil. However, in this case of show-gifting, the Globe mentions the Kashmir valley within Pakistani soil as a “disputed area”.
The damaging intent against India was complete with a mockery of fine-line declaration that these are not officially ordained maps. This declaration does not emerge into human eyes without a lensed view.
The Chinese trick of creating such an impression of the Globe and India’s position in it, at the first examination, has enough promise to last very long. Especially in the minds of Indian, Chinese and Pakistani children who might be visiting the Home Center retail showroom for collecting a Globe in the prestigious Mall in Dubai.
Such instances prove what China tells diplomatically in bilateral relations may not be exactly what it indeed wants to do about India. It is a sad trajectory in India-China relations today.
What dogs saner minds is why terrorism would be allowed to get oxygen by Chinese mock-realpolitics?
Even with regard to Pakistan, its long-time ally, China had territorial claims to stake. In 1959, while garnering support-base for for a UNO seat, China released a world map showing a large chunk of Pakistani territories within Chinese territories.
Frustrated by Chinese intent, Pak President Ayub Khan sent an SOS to Indian Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru seeking military help should China attack Pakistan to forcibly annexe the Pakistani areas.
China, however, played a Mechiavellian ‘iron and fox’ realpolitick on the issue by withdrawing the map in 1962, about five months before attacking India, and after Pakistan agreed to recommend it for a seat in the UNO.
China continued its Mechiavellian ‘foxy’ ploys, by making Pakistan a permanent ally, to which Pakistani people endorsed. Though this friendship considerably cost Paskistan of its US support-base, President Ayub Khan preferred to make peace with its fiery neighbour by agreeing to enter border talks in March.
Negotiations went beyond the Sino-India war of June 1962, and concluded by signing on March 2, 1963. China withdrew from about 750 sq (or 1942.491083 sq km) of Pakistani territory, and Pakistan agreed to drop claim on about 2,050 sq m (or 5309.47662 sq km) of territory. Irony in the story is, Pakistan never did or had the might to occupy the above Chinese territory nor could it administer over it. The bargain one-sidedly concluded with China gaining.
The territory is today’s Trans-Karakoram Tract in the vicinity of the Kargilik County. This area is also known in Chinese as ‘Yecheng’ and belongs to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Today it is administered by Kashgar Prefecture.
The Tract has sensitive strategic importance along the Shaksgam River on both sides. This area is also claimed by India as part of the state of J&K.
Most of the tract has remarkable Indian footprint of pre-independent times, as it was administered as a part of Shigar, a valley in the Baltistan region, now in Pakistan.
According to records, the Raja of Shigar controlled most of the stretch till recently as 1971, when Pakistan abolished the Raja system. For a footprint there is also a polo ground built by the Amacha Royal family of Shigar, to which the Rajas used to invite the Amirs of Yarkand to play polo there.
Most names of mountains, lakes, rivers and moutaneous passes are either in Balti or in Ladakhi, which suggest Indian footprints in the region for a very long time.
Sadly, in today’s International Relations in the subcontinent, where China is a party, nations are not showing concession to amicability, even as terrorists-sponsored threats of violence, and miseries to the teeming millions of innocent people in the region, wreak havoc.
Blocking, over flimsy grounds, of Lakhvi’s and Salahuddin’s trials at the international court of justice is the glaring case in point. This is what China continues to commit against India, even as the two great countries have civilizational bond in the backdrop of wisdom and Buddhism, which the both need to harness and prosper.

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