NEW DELHI: China may claim there is "not a single" People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldier
 |
| Ahead of the delegation-level meeting with visiting Chinese defence minister, India has again asked Beijing to stop expanding its strategic footprint in PoK |
in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) but India remains thoroughly unconvinced. Ahead of the delegation-level meeting with visiting Chinese defence minister General Liang Guanglie on Tuesday, India has again asked Beijing to stop expanding its strategic footprint in PoK.
"The government is aware of the infrastructure development by China at the border and their (Chinese) undertaking infrastructure projects in PoK. The government has conveyed its concerns to China about its activities in PoK and asked them to cease such activities," said defence minister A K Antony, in a written reply in Lok Sabha on Monday.
The statement is bound to ruffle the feathers of a prickly China that is already miffed with the new US defence policy to progressively shift 60% of its formidable naval fleet to the Asia-Pacific region, and Washington's description of India as "a linchpin" in this unfolding strategy.
But while India is unwilling to jump onto any US-led bandwagon to "contain" China, and takes adequate care to respect Chinese sensitivities, Beijing continues to expand its presence in PoK and the Gilgit-Baltistan areas in the garb of infrastructure projects.
Moreover, India remains concerned about the ever-expanding Beijing-Islamabad military nexus, which is clearly directed against New Delhi, as well as the massive build-up of military infrastructure by the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) all along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) and its naval forays into the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
China has also helped Pakistan rapidly expand its nuclear and missile arsenals, as also supply it with a whole lot of conventional weaponry that ranges from JF-17 and F-7 fighters to F-22P frigates and early warning and control aircraft.
India is expected to raise these concerns with China during the 90-minute delegation-level meeting between Antony and Gen Liang on Tuesday, with the chairman of the chiefs of staff committee Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne also slated to call on the Chinese dignitary later in the day.
On Monday, Antony said, "The government is fully seized of the security imperatives of the country and reviews the threat perception from time to time as well as the need for developing requisite infrastructure (to counter China) in the border areas."
"Indian territory under occupation by China in J&K since 1962 is approximately 38,000 sq km. In addition to this, under the so-called China-Pakistan `boundary agreement' of 1963, Pakistan illegally ceded 5,180 sq km of Indian territory in PoK to China. In the eastern sector, China illegally claims approximately 90,000 sq km of Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh," he added.
In reply to another query over the Chinese naval presence in IOR, Antony said the government was keeping track of projects like port development and deep sea mining by China in the region.
"The government is aware of the infrastructure development by China at the border and their (Chinese) undertaking infrastructure projects in PoK. The government has conveyed its concerns to China about its activities in PoK and asked them to cease such activities," said defence minister A K Antony, in a written reply in Lok Sabha on Monday.
The statement is bound to ruffle the feathers of a prickly China that is already miffed with the new US defence policy to progressively shift 60% of its formidable naval fleet to the Asia-Pacific region, and Washington's description of India as "a linchpin" in this unfolding strategy.
But while India is unwilling to jump onto any US-led bandwagon to "contain" China, and takes adequate care to respect Chinese sensitivities, Beijing continues to expand its presence in PoK and the Gilgit-Baltistan areas in the garb of infrastructure projects.
Moreover, India remains concerned about the ever-expanding Beijing-Islamabad military nexus, which is clearly directed against New Delhi, as well as the massive build-up of military infrastructure by the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) all along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) and its naval forays into the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
China has also helped Pakistan rapidly expand its nuclear and missile arsenals, as also supply it with a whole lot of conventional weaponry that ranges from JF-17 and F-7 fighters to F-22P frigates and early warning and control aircraft.
India is expected to raise these concerns with China during the 90-minute delegation-level meeting between Antony and Gen Liang on Tuesday, with the chairman of the chiefs of staff committee Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne also slated to call on the Chinese dignitary later in the day.
On Monday, Antony said, "The government is fully seized of the security imperatives of the country and reviews the threat perception from time to time as well as the need for developing requisite infrastructure (to counter China) in the border areas."
"Indian territory under occupation by China in J&K since 1962 is approximately 38,000 sq km. In addition to this, under the so-called China-Pakistan `boundary agreement' of 1963, Pakistan illegally ceded 5,180 sq km of Indian territory in PoK to China. In the eastern sector, China illegally claims approximately 90,000 sq km of Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh," he added.
In reply to another query over the Chinese naval presence in IOR, Antony said the government was keeping track of projects like port development and deep sea mining by China in the region.
No comments:
Post a Comment
thanks.