New Delhi
16 January 2008
New Delhi's reluctance to even as much clear the air privately, on an
issue which Beijing chose to air publicly, has been met with bewilderment and
consternation from politicians and analysts alike. They felt that the UPA Government's
inability to counter the Chinese pronouncements on the Sino-Indian border dispute, or to
let Chinese claims go uncontested, has given rise to avoidable perceptions and made
Tawang contentious.
Chinese officials and scholars alike have sought to suggest that China could reconsider
its claim on a large territory of Arunachal Pradesh but not Tawang. However, by New
Delhi's own admission, "contentious" issues were kept outside the purview of informal
discussions between National Security Advisor MK Narayanan and Chinese Vice Foreign
Minister Dai Bingguo in Beijing on the sidelines of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's
three-day visit to Beijing. Mr Narayanan and Mr Dai are the special representatives of
India and China for the border talks.
Leader of Opposition LK Advani was quick with a response. On Wednesday, he
expressed concern over the Chinese claims on Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. He told a
conclave here that there should be no dispute over human inhabited areas. "When there
is an institutional arrangement to settle the border dispute, there should not be any
public statements," Mr Advani, BJP's prime ministerial candidate, added.
Mr Advani's comment came within hours of Prime Minister Singh's return from Beijing.
Incidentally, the BJP had raised similar concerns ahead of the Prime Minister's visit,
too. It had sought a status quo of the Line of Actual Control (LAC.) A BJP Member of
Parliament from Arunachal Pradesh, Mr Khiren Rijiju, had also written a letter to the
Prime Minister asking him be emphatic on the border dispute.
The chairman and founder of the New Delhi-based Centre for Policy Alternatives, Mr
Mohan Guruswamy, said that China's focus generally on the eastern sector of the Sino-
Indian border, and particularly Tawang, is a recent phenomenon. Describing the Chinese
claims on Tawang as mischievous, he said that New Delhi must put its foot down and
convey to Beijing that Tawang is non-negotiable.
"No self-respecting government can concede [on Tawang]," Mr Guruswamy told this
newspaper. He dismissed a Chinese claim that Tibetan opinion wants Tawang. "The
Dalai Lama has renounced all claims on Tawang .... There is no logic to China's claim
that Tibet is a part of China and therefore Tawang should be a part too," he said, adding
that the Prime Minister's visit to Beijing was high on atmospherics but low on substance.
Dr Srikanth Kondapalli, an associate professor in Chinese studies at the Jawaharlal
Nehru University in New Delhi, was categorical that the Chinese claims on Tawang are
"ridiculous" because China has no "locus standi" whatsoever. "It is an extended claim,"
he said, which went against the grain of international law and was violative of the spirit
of a resolution passed by Parliament of India.
Dr Kondapalli explained that India is in physical control of Tawang and harping on a
Tibetan connection did not qualify China for ownership of the Tawang tract. The
parliament resolution of 1962, in turn, talks of getting every inch of land back.
"Government of India appears to be compromising," he told this newspaper, referring an
earlier understanding reached with the Chinese that settled populations will not be
disturbed.
Still others felt that stepping up of the rhetoric on Tawang could be a ploy to let the Sino-
Indian border dispute linger till China senses an appropriate time for resolution. They
said that the McMahon Line is a treaty negotiated at a tripartite meeting in which China
was represented. "It is a treaty obligation [which China must] abide," a source said.
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