146 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 91 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing Summarizing
Exclusive to OpEd News:
OpEdNews Op Eds    H3'ed 4/3/21

Chinese border villages in disputed territory alarms India

By       (Page 1 of 2 pages)   No comments

Abdus-Sattar Ghazali
Message Abdus-Sattar Ghazali
Become a Fan
  (11 fans)

A Chinese push to create civilian settlements along disputed borders in the Himalayan region has emerged as a major new concern for India as, analysts in India say, it replicates Beijing's strategy to consolidate claims in the South China Sea, the Voice of America reported Friday.

The latest red flag has been raised by a new village built by China in an area disputed by the two countries along the border in India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.

The construction of the village in territory also claimed by India is a strategy to reinforce China's claim to the area by altering facts on the ground, the VOA quoted analysts as saying

"The border villages are the Himalayan equivalent of China's artificially created islands in the South China Sea and let us not forget that in the South China Sea, China has redrawn the geopolitical map without firing a single shot," Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic studies at New Delhi's Center for Policy Research, said.

"Beijing advanced the expansionism not by directly employing force but through asymmetrical and hybrid warfare. That success in the South China Sea has emboldened China and it has taken that playbook to the Himalayan borderlands," he said.

The new Chinese village is of particular concern to India because it lies along a sensitive, contested border. China claims the state of Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet, while India says the northeastern state is an integral part of India.

After Indian broadcaster NDTV reported in January, based on satellite images, that a new village had appeared, China's Foreign Affairs Ministry defended its construction, saying the country's "normal construction on its own territory is entirely a matter of sovereignty," and is "beyond reproach."

"We have never recognized the so-called Arunachal Pradesh illegally established on the Chinese territory," spokesperson Hua Chunying said.

The village of about 100 homes according to satellite images was built last year as the two countries were involved in a tense military standoff thousands of kilometers away, along the western Himalayan mountains in Ladakh. Although troops have pulled back, soldiers from both sides remain massed along other stretches of the Himalayas amid continuing territorial disputes on their 3,500-kilometer border.

The construction of the new village that has raised concern in India is part of a program by China to build hundreds of settlements along its Himalayan borders, according to several analysts, who say their development has been officially linked by Beijing to poverty alleviation and defense of the borders.

"They change the status of an area which was previously uninhabited to inhabited with people either from Tibet or mainland China. So they change the demography in a disputed area," the VOA quoted Claude Arpi, a scholar on Tibet and an expert on India and China relations, as saying.

"They bring infrastructure, they bring roads, optical fiber cable, electricity, which can be used for civilian purposes and military purposes also. For India it is really a huge challenge because it has no way to counter it."

Arpi said China's development in remote mountain areas that have little economic activity shows they have a larger strategic purpose.

Indian officials have made no specific mention of the new village along the Arunachal Pradesh border.

However, in Parliament last week, India's minister of state for external affairs, Vellamvelly Muraleedharan said that India is aware China is developing infrastructure in the border regions opposite India in Tibet and Xinjiang autonomous regions, and that it keeps constant watch on all developments having a bearing on the country's security. He said India is also focusing on improving infrastructure in the border regions to facilitate economic development and meet the country's strategic and security requirements.

In recent years India has been speeding development of border roads and rail networks in a bid to catch up with China, which has rapidly increased connectivity to areas near its borders with India, Bhutan and Nepal.

Next Page  1  |  2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Rate It | View Ratings

Abdus-Sattar Ghazali Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Author and journalist. Author of Islamic Pakistan: Illusions & Reality; Islam in the Post-Cold War Era; Islam & Modernism; Islam & Muslims in the Post-9/11 America. American Muslims in Politics. Islam in the 21st Century: (more...)
 

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Pakistan's first Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan was assassinated by America

U.S. Muslims condemn killings of American diplomats in Libya

Are we living in Orwell's 1984 Oceania surveillance state?

Saudi Air Force trainee opens fire at Naval Air Station in Florida killing 3 people

2001-2011: A decade of civil liberties' erosion in America -- Part One

2001-2011: A decade of civil liberties' erosion in America -- Part Two

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend