NEW DELHI – India will handle China s growing assertiveness and has steppedup patrols on their disputed border to head off more standoffs, thecountry s top army officer declared Friday.
The nuclear-armed neighbours have in the past gone to war over their borderand last year were involved in a showdown over a Himalayan plateau claimedby China and Bhutan which is an ally of India.
“We understand China is a powerful country but we are not a weak nation,”Indian army chief General Bipin Rawat told a press conference when askedabout the border dispute.
“We have increased our troop levels… we have increased our patrollingintensity. We are capable of handling China s assertiveness.
“We will not allow our territory to be invaded upon. Whenever intrusionstake place we will defend because that s there in our charter.”
Hundreds of Chinese and Indian troops faced off last year on the Doklamplateau, a small strip close to the intersection between China, India andBhutan.
Rawat said Indian soldiers crossed into foreign territory during thestandoff but only because Chinese forces had “big equipment and they meantbusiness”.
“We knew they will try and claim the whole of Doklam. We felt a change inthe status quo..(But) all effort was made by us to ensure it does not leadto a conflict.
“Even if it would have escalated we were prepared (as) the terrain usuallyfavours us.”
The border dispute began in mid-June after Chinese troops started buildinga road on the Himalayan plateau.
India has an army base nearby and moved soldiers into the flashpoint zoneto halt the work, prompting Beijing to accuse it of trespassing on Chinesesoil.
The two nations finally pulled back their troops in mid-August, averting afull-blown crisis.
India and China fought a 1962 war over Arunachal Pradesh state and have ahistory of mistrust as they jostle for regional supremacy.
China has fostered closer ties with India s arch-rival Pakistan in recentyears. It has also invested in other countries in the region in a bid towin friends.
India is revamping its military and bolstering its partnership with theUnited States and Japan.
Both nations say they are committed to solving longstanding borderdisagreements through dialogue, but progress has been glacial. – AFP