Kolkata, December 25
“India cannot concentrate exclusively on the western theatre with Pakistan if China undertakes these measures along Arunachal and Sikkim. And it could well be that it is goading Pakistan to anti-Indian actions in Rajasthan, Punjab and Kashmir. A distracted India is a weaker India and China stands to gain the most from it,” pointed out a senior army officer.
In fact, say serving and retired officer, the situation now is quite similar to the pre-1962 situation when Beijing lulled New Delhi into a false sense of complacency.
China constructed a load linking Tibet with Xinjiang Ugyur region in 1961. This road passed through Aksai Chin area of India and to thwart any further moves by Chibna, India sent its troops to defend that territory in November 1961. By October 1962, China launched a full-scale aggression.
“This time, too, China has started acting on its claims over Arunachal and Sikkim and has constructed roads and rail links right up to our borders. It is encouraging new Chinese towns just across the border to spill over slowly into India. It is upgrading its formidable military infrastructure in the Small Coco and Great Coco Islands by stationing radar squadrons, extending two runways and beefing up the naval base there.
"At the same time, Chinese leaders are talking of peaceful resolution of the border issue with India and are trying to charm the Indian leadership into thinking that China is no threat to India. Our Foreign Minister said as much when he visited Beijing in June 1999, though our Defence Minister did say in April 1998 that China continues to represent a security threat to us,” said a retired army officer who did not want to be named.
China, said a strategic expert, has a “long memory” and has never shied away on taking concrete action on its territorial claims.
“Look at tactics China has employed to keep Japan and other countries on a leash. Apart from keeping India under pressure on the eastern front, China has been employing Pakistan as a surrogate belligerent to jeopardize India’s security,” said an analyst.
China has also been sending out conflicting signals—a few months after Jaswant Singh declared that China was no security threat to India, Chinese President Jiang Zemin made highly derogatory references to India while speaking to President Bill Clinton.
Zemin reportedly said that India would be dealt with strongly if it does not stop providing shelter to Tibetan refugees and continues to oppose China’s efforts to integrate Arunachal and Sikkim with the rest of that country. The USA’s Central Intelligence Agency sums it the best: “Beijing treats India as a country to be threatened, belittled and kept in check”. This, and other such assessments by the CIA, can be found in the CIA Factbooks.
According to the army sources, India will take at least a decade to upgrade its infrastructure in the North East to what China has on its side of the LAC now. It is learnt that the Indian Air Force (IAF) installations in the eastern and northeastern region have also been put on alert.
(Concluded)
Part I: Tensions flare along Sino-Indian border
That is real stupid. As there is no real anti-missile defense, and the range of the missile allows it to hit easily, moving your missile batterys far from the enemy is a bit smarter. The Syrians after fighting Israel bought new long range Skud-D's just so they could move them to the far border on Iraq's side. That will make the Israeli Jets have to fly all the way across Syria to reach the skuds. Waving your skud in your enemies face is a good way to have it removed from your inventory before its time.
Comparative Military Might
Of India And Pakistan
Amid War Clouds
By Indo-Asian News Service
12-25-1
New Delhi (IANS) - Heightened tension between India and Pakistan has led to the massing of troops along their winding border, sparking fears of a military conflict.
The following is a comparison of the military strength of the two countries:
India:
Army: 1.1 million personnel with five regional commands and 12 corps. Reserves: Territorial Army - 40,000 volunteers
Equipment : 3,400 main battle tanks, including T-55, T-72, Vijayanta. 90 light tanks 1,450 infantry combat vehicles 300 armoured personnel carriers 4,175 pieces of towed artillery, including 155mm Bofors howitzers, 130 mm guns, 105 mm guns About 200 pieces of self-propelled artillery 2,400 air defence guns Unspecified number of Searcher and other unmanned aerial vehicles 150 helicopters
Navy: 53,000 personnel with three commands and far Eastern joint command in the Andaman and Nicobar island chain. Personnel include 1,000 marine commandos.
Equipment : 10 Russian-made Kilo-class submarines, four HDW SSK submarines and two Soviet era Foxtrot submarines, one aircraft carrier with Sea King helicopters and Sea Harrier aircraft, eight guided missile destroyers, 11 frigates, seven corvettes and 39 patrol and offshore combat vessels, 18 mine warfare vessels, seven amphibious combat vessels, 32 support vessels. 20 Sea Harrier aircraft, 29 Dornier aircraft, 10 Il-38 and Tu-142 reconnaissance aircraft, some 70 helicopters, including Ka-25s.
Air Force: 110,000 personnel with five regional commands
Equipment: More than 700 combat aircraft, including Su-30, MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-29, Mirage 2000, Jaguar maritime aircraft. More than 20 attack helicopters, including Mi-25 and Mi-35. Four Boeing electronic intelligence aircraft, two reconnaissance squadrons, More than 200 transport aircraft, including Dorniers, An-32, Avros, Il-76. More than 150 transport helicopters, including Mi-8, Mi-17 and Mi-26.
Missiles: Unspecified number of Prithvi nuclear-capable short-range ballistic missiles.
Pakistan:
Army: 550,000 personnel with nine corps headquarters. Reserves: 513,000 personnel.
Equipment: 2,300 main battle tanks, including M-47, M-48, T-55, Chinese-made Type 59, Type 69, Type 85 and T-80UD. 1,150 armoured personnel carriers. 1,400 pieces of towed artillery, including 155mm, 130mm and 203mm guns. 250 pieces of self-propelled artillery. More than 2,000 air defence guns, 20 attack helicopters, more than 100 transport helicopters and unspecified number of Bravo UAVs.
Navy: 25,000 personnel, including 1,200 marines and 2,000 personnel of Maritime Security Agency. Main base at Karachi.
Equipment: 10 submarines, including French-made Agosta, Daphne armed with Harpoon missiles, eight frigates, five missile crafts, three coastal patrol boats, one inshore patrol vessel, six mine warfare and nine support vessels Five naval combat aircraft and nine armed helicopters
Air Force: 45,000 personnel with three regional commands
Equipment: More than 350 combat aircraft, including Mirage III, Mirage 5, Chinese-made Q-5. One reconnaissance squadron More than 20 transport aircraft, including C-130 Hercules, Boeing 707.
Missiles: Unspecified number of Hatf-I, Hatf-II short-range missiles
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