Official visit of a Chief Minister to bleak Ladakh at the peak of winter is something of a rarity. Mehbooba Mufti undertook her maiden visit to Leh after she stepped into the shoes of her late father. She presided over the meeting of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council. By and large, in her deliberations at Leh that included a public meeting also besides other programmes, she concentrated less on local and more on non-local matters like connectivity and geo-politics of the region. In fact the theme of connectivity was linked to connecting people and connecting regions, a statement embracing wider meaning in the context of the politics of the region.
Ladakh is a strategic region of the Indian Union. Here boundary of four Asian countries meet and these are India, China, Pakistan and Afghanistan. In normal course of things one would not focus one’s attention on its geopolitical strategy but China and Pakistan, both ruthlessly adopting anti-India stance, force us to review our border strategy intermittently. This is the reason why Modi Government has been concentrating on strategic aspects of our border in Ladakh besides the need for shoring up developmental exercise in the region. It is true that Ladakh region has remained a very important hub of trade and commerce in the days of Silk Road history. Caravans laden with merchandise of innumerable variety passed to and from Ladakh to Central Asian region via Shahidullah Pass first to Yarkand and then to other towns and cities. Mehbooba Mufti recollected those days in her address and expressed the view that trade relations with Central Asia could be revived and tourism could be given a boost in Ladakh region. She has also spoken about the opening the road to Askardu from Kargil.
These are very good ideas aimed at improving economy of the region and enabling people to interact with others across the LoC. The idea of wider interaction among the people springs from the necessity of reducing tension that has bedeviled relations between the people in divided State of Jammu and Kashmir. However, the ground reality today in 21st century is somewhat very different from what it was a century ago. Ladakh region has come under very disturbing apprehension of the immediate fallout of Chinese massive presence in Gilgit and Baltistan, an area that legally belongs to the original State of Jammu and Kashmir and hence to India by virtue of accession of the State to the Indian Union. China had illegally grabbed a vast chunk of Aksaichin and then after the new state of Pakistan was carved out in 1947, this new State ceded more than 5,000 square kilometers of Aksaichin to China enabling her to connect her western province of Xingjian (Eastern Turkestan) to Tibet. This road runs close to our border with China in Ladakh. In other words an inimical country has brought road connectivity close to our border and thus immensely increased its strategic importance and security threat to our bode.
This apart, there has been more intimidating activity on the part of Sino-Pak nexus against us in the region. Some years back, China brought in about ten thousand PLA force into Gilgit under the pretext of working out developmental projects in Gilgit-Baltistan area. Many years back China built the Karakorum Highway which connects Xingjian province with Pakistan. With the announcement of 46-billion, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the city of Kashghar in Eastern Turkistan will get connected with Gwadar sea port built by China and allowing China access the Arabian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. This poses threat to India in many ways. The Chinese area reported to have installed long range missile launching pads along the KKH. Soon the Chinese will be physically present at the LoC across Kargil in Askardu region. This situation poses definite threat to the security of India’s northern border.
We hope that the State Government also keeps this fast changing scenario in sight and devises a policy for Ladakh that would be complimenting the efforts of our Defence Ministry as well as the Foreign Ministry in securing Ladakh region against any threat from across the border either from China or from Pakistan. A great responsibility devolves on the shoulders of our commanders in that region to maintain security of the borders. All developmental projects and programmes in Ladakh region need to be dovetailed to the ground situation obtainable in the region. LAHDC is perhaps the best institution that can provide timely advice and feed back to both the State and the Central Government on how the affairs of the border district and its problems need to be tackled.
The announcement of creating Nubra Valley Tourism Development Authority made by the Chief Minister is welcome. Undoubtedly it will boost tourism in this region especially foreign tourists who envisage great interest in the plateau called the Roof of the World. However, again we need to sound a word of caution for the Tourism Department. This announcement should be translated into practice and not remain confined to files as is usually the case with all new tourist destinations announced from time to time.
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