But, when the IB team reached there in the summer of 1986, it saw that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China had made its base there. When this news reached Delhi, there was a stir. We will talk about a similar story of China’s betrayal, as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has recently spoken on India-China border disputes in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Talking about China, he/she said that our relations with it are linked to the past of confrontation, encroachment and skirmishes. Let’s talk to defense experts about these 4 deceptions of China.
China’s third betrayal was Sumdorong Chu of Arunachal.
According to defense analyst Lieutenant Colonel (Retd) JS Sodhi, in 1986–87 there was a military standoff between India and China in the Sumdorong Chu valley on the border of Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh and Kona County of Tibet. It began with China moving a company of troops to Wangdung, a pastureland south of Sumdorong Chu that India considered its territory. Indian troops remained entrenched on the neighboring Longro La Ridge and both sides sent large numbers of troops to the border. The crisis subsided after the visit of the Indian Foreign Minister to Beijing in May 1987.
Army’s Operation Falcon took away China’s arrogance
JS Sodhi, author of the book CHINA’S WAR CLOUDS, says that at that time Indian Army Chief General Krishnaswami Sundarji ordered the Indian Army to go to Sumdorong Chu under Operation Falcon. On October 18, 1986, the Indian Army reached the heights there. On October 20, the Indian Army deployed heavily there. Seeing this, China’s PLA also deployed there.
China had retreated after seeing the preparation and checkerboard of the Indian Army.
According to JS Sodhi, after this talks took place between the two governments. For the next one year, both the armies stood there facing each other. This issue was resolved after talks between the political leadership of both the countries. The Indian Army had built bunkers there and made complete preparations. The Indian Army was in a position from where it could monitor Sumdorong Chu. Seeing this, China retreated and later the Indian Army also retreated from there. Apart from this, in 1987, Operation Checkerboard was a military exercise conducted at a high altitude by India on the Chinese border, which horrified China.
Arunachal became a full state through Operation Falcon
One advantage of Operation Falcon was that after some time, India removed Arunachal Pradesh from a union territory and made it a state. Earlier Arunachal Pradesh and some areas were called NEFA. Full name of NEFA is North East Frontier Agency. It means North-East Frontier Province. It was an administrative division of the British Raj and independent India until 1972. In the year 1972, it was made a union territory named Arunachal Pradesh and in the year 1987 it got the status of a full state.
China’s second betrayal is Arunachal’s Longju
According to JS Sodhi, China had earlier committed the second betrayal in Longju. Longju is a village located in Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh. China stabbed India in the back and claimed it by attacking on August 25, 1959. It is adjacent to the border of Tibet.
Attack on Assam Rifles soldiers in Longju
After China occupied Tibet, in August 1959, a few soldiers of Assam Rifles posted at the border post here suddenly attacked. Since then this place is under Chinese occupation. However, India considers it as its integral part. Migyitun settlement of Tibet is about 2.5 km north of here.
Nehru became alert only after the Longju clash
Author Srinath Raghavan has said in his/her book ‘War and Peace in Modern India’ that it was only after the Longju encounter that the Indian government and the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru started taking the possibility of war with China seriously. Especially when the ‘border areas’ were handed over to the army after the Longju clash.
China’s fourth betrayal in Depsang, evil eye on one bowl
Take. Colonel JS Sodhi says that Depsang, the northern area of Ladakh, looks like a flat area. Its altitude is about 16,000 to 17,000 feet. During the India-China war in 1962, China occupied it for a few days but then withdrew its forces. Currently this area is disputed between China and India.
At the same time, India’s most difficult Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) is present in Daulat Beg Oldi i.e. DBO, built nearby. Standing on the Indian border and looking towards China, eastern Ladakh looks like a bowl. On one side of which is the highest peak of Karakoram Pass. After this comes DBO and then Galwan area. Further downstream is Pangong Lake.
More than 70 percent of Ladakh’s population is nomadic
According to Defense Analyst Sodhi, more than 70 percent of the population of Eastern Ladakh, located on the China border i.e. Line of Actual Control (LAC), is nomads. Their survival depends on yaks and sheep. Dozens of small villages have been settled here for centuries amidst the mountains at a height of 15 thousand to 17 thousand feet. Life here is very difficult. The situation here completely changed after the bloody clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers in Galwan Valley in June 2020.
Barahoti controversy is China’s first betrayal
Barahoti is the first hoax related to the disputed area along the border between China and India. Barahoti is a sloping plain located in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. China declares its claim on this. It is also called woo-je or wure. Barahoti is on the Ganga side of the Sutlej-Ganga watershed, which is also the current Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China.
Stab in the back 2 months after Panchsheel agreement
Barely two months after the signing of the Panchsheel Pact in 1954, India realized that not all problems had been resolved. The first Chinese incursion took place in Barahoti in June 1954. After this, hundreds of infiltrations started. The Chinese rapidly established villages. Sometimes 300-400 houses in multi-storey blocks are built within 90-100 days.
What was Panchsheel agreement, know everything
The Panchsheel Agreement was an agreement between India and China. This agreement was signed on April 29, 1954. 5 principles were decided in this agreement. First-to respect each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. Second, not to take aggressive action against each other; third, not to interfere in each other’s internal affairs. Fourth – to follow the policy of equality and mutual benefit and fifth – to believe in the policy of peaceful coexistence. This agreement was signed by the first Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru and the first Prime Minister of China Chou En-lai.
What did Jaishankar say in Lok Sabha about China?
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has spoken on India-China relations in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. he/she said in the Lok Sabha that there is a long history of confrontation, encroachment and skirmishes in many areas of the India-China border. This goes back to several other disputes, including Barahoti from 1954, Longju in 1959, Sumdorong Chu from 1986-1995 and Depsang in 2013. Earlier governments in the past have agreed to a number of steps to defuse situations that have arisen at different times, including de-militarized zones, limited non-patrolled zones, transfer or withdrawal of positions, withdrawal of troops from our side. Offers are included.