India needs to be on guard, avoid being provoked

DAYS after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, China’s Ministry of Natural Resources has released the country’s ‘2023 edition of the standard map’, which shows the disputed border area of Aksai Chin and the entire Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh within its territory. Earlier this year, China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs had claimed that it had ‘standardised’ the names of 11 places in Arunachal, which is called ‘Zangnan, the southern part of Tibet’ by the Chinese.

India has lodged a strong protest with China over the new map. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has asserted that it’s an ‘old habit’ of China to make absurd claims on other countries’ territories, while the Congress, the main Opposition party, has stated that China’s claims on Arunachal Pradesh are ‘absurd, illogical and historically incorrect’. China’s cartographical move, which appears to be a fresh provocation, is set to cast a shadow on President Xi’s expected visit to India next week for the G20 summit.

New Delhi has been categorical in stating that Arunachal Pradesh has ‘always been and will always be’ an integral part of the country. However, China seems to be in no mood to respect India’s territorial sovereignty. It was Arunachal that had witnessed a clash between Indian and Chinese troops at Tawang in December last year. India needs to hold its ground and remain on guard in the face of China’s posturing. Though China has repeatedly proved to be an unreliable neighbour, India has kept all lines of communication open and never shied away from expressing its genuine concerns. The onus is on Beijing to engage in a meaningful dialogue with New Delhi and walk the talk on disengagement and de-escalation in border areas by taking verifiable action on the ground.