West of Chin Chap in Chinese occupied Aksaichin and south of the Karakorum Pass. stands the strategic Daulat Baig Oldi station well inside Ladakh territory under Indian control. In pre-partition days, it was the last station after which the Karakorum Pass had to be negotiated to reach the town of Yarkand to the north, then a well known trading town on the fabulous Silk Route. Yarkand was much known to the Kashmiris during the period of Dogra rule because a fairly large quantum of trade was carried along this route between Kashmir and Turkistan. Many Yarkandi merchants were well versed with the history and geography of Kashmir and so were the Kashmiris, some of whom had found spouses in Yarkand and settled down in that town of ancient Turkistan.
Intrusion of about 50 PLA troopers ten miles inside Daulat Baig Oldi is a clear and blatant act of violation of international border. This is not the first time that China has betrayed its lurking desire of coveting more and more territories contiguous to its borders. This is the old time habit of the authorities in Beijing to nibble at the borders and create unusual situation. Their patent methodology is to make swift intrusion, paint stones and boulders red and inscribe China on them, destroy Indian symbols if any close by and leave the site. But in the present incursion in Daulat Baig Oldi conducted on 15 of April, the Chinese have pitched tents and established military posts ten miles inside the Indian territory. They have marked the boulders red with China inscribed on them. Some Chinese helicopters were also seen flying over the scene of intrusion apparently to provide cover to the intruding Chinese troops. On learning about the intrusion, Indian army dispatched troops to the spot and asked the adversary to send their representative for a flag meeting between the commanders. As usual, the Chinese side claimed the territory as their own and did not show willingness to have a look at the map and the documents related to the ground position.
This is not the first incursion of its kind. It is the repetition of a well calculated policy of China to disturb normalcy on Sino-Indian border whether in Ladakh or in the Eastern sector of Sino-Indian border. We know that China has developed highly effective network of border roads and connectivity besides the rail link to Lhasa in Tibet. China has the ambitious plan of building railway line along the Karakorum Highway connecting her Xingjian province to Pakistan and finally through Pakistan to Gawadar sea port on the Makran coast in Arabian Gulf. China has already grabbed the vast area of Aksaichin which once happened to be part of the princely kingdom of the Dogra rulers of Jammu. It was General Zorawar Singh, the famous commander of Maharaja Ranbir Singh who had, in a long drawn campaign, secured the northern frontier of the Dogra State. Celebrated Dogra warriors had made great sacrifices and demonstrated extraordinary valour unparalleled in the history of mountain warfare, of moving the frontier of the State as far away in the north as they could.
Intermittent but unrelenting intrusions of the PLA over several decades in the past along our borders whether in Arunachal sector of in Ladakh sector sufficiently reveal the real designs of Beijing. The history of China tells us that that country has never given up greed for territories adjoining her original ones. With increase in population and widening of commercial activities, the greed for grabbing more and more territories has been accentuated. The real purpose behind intrusion in Daulat Baig Oldi is that China wants to secure the Karakorum Pass that stands close to Daulatbaig to its north. In Chinese perception Indian military presence in Daulatbaig is a threat to Chinese strategy in the Karakorum though India never betrayed any indication that she would adopt belligerent posture there. However one would suggest that Indian army should make a good attempt of controlling parts of the Karakorum Pass and impede easy Chinese movement of men and material across this strategic channel.
Beijing has adopted very dubious strategy of intrusions into Indian territory. Hindsight shows that the essential purpose of these intrusions is to test India’s military capability of defending the forward posts. The Chinese know that after every intrusion, Indians would call for flag meeting, debate the issue, promise restoration of normalcy and put a lid on the boiling pot till it is forgotten and the Chinese remain in occupation under the oft repeated but seldom honoured pretext of withdrawing from the intruded areas. India side, feeling shy of talking to Chinese in a language which they would understand, have been found playing down the incidents and calling if faceoff with the Chinese. Even in this case as well, the Indian side has termed it faceoff and has expressed the hope that tension will die down and normalcy will return. Nobody has tried to assess how far the Chinese have kept such promises in the past and what inference we need to draw from our past experience. Will a day dawn when India’s apologetic stance will be reversed and realpolitik takes its natural course in India’s foreign policy?
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