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Editor's notes: the author is Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan, Sinologist (ex-Diplomat), Editor, Analyst, Non-Resident Fellow of CCG (Center for China and Globalization), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan.
At least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a clash with Chinese forces in Ladakh - a disputed Himalayan border area, Indian officials say. There were casualties from the Chinese side too, but precise information is not available yet. The Stand-off started on 5 May 2020, when China halted the Indian construction work in the disputed territory of Ladakh unilaterally. India troops were engaged in building Air Stip and Roads & Bridges, Infrastructure, threatening China directly. China was left with no option except forcing India to halt the construction activities.
There was no report of the use of weapons & ammunition since 5 May, with no causalities on either side, till night. However, the casualties were also without the use of firearms or ammunition, only hand-scuff, use of stones, bars or sticks, was reported. However, causalities mean a lot and may lead toward escalation further.
Indian Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, preemptively coordinated war reserves. Deployment of more troops and movements of war-machines were witness into the front line positions. Indian Navy was given the go-ahead to deploy its assets near the Malacca Strait. It seems India is planning to expand the border dispute into full-fledged war and even into the Indian Ocean or the Pacific Ocean. India is in a treaty with the US, Australia, and Japan, known as the Indo-Pacific Treaty, and may exercise its edge against China. Indian Air Force assets, including fighters, moved up to forward locations. All three forces, Army, Navy, and Airforce, is on high alert and ready position for any aggressive actions at any moment.
There is a misperception promoted by Indian war-crazy media that the Indian Army is superior to Chinese and can trounce China. The opposition parties in India are also exerting massive pressure on the Government of PM-Modi too. Indian expectations from the US and Western Allies is also one factor, which can encourage India for aggression. India being a Major Defense Partner with the US, have high expectations from the US.
The two countries had fought only one war so far, in 1962, when India suffered a humiliating defeat. The two nuclear-armed neighbors have a chequered history of face-offs and overlapping territorial claims along the more than 3,440km, poorly drawn Line of Actual Control separating the two sides. Border patrols have often bumped into each other, resulting in occasional scuffles. But no bullets have been fired in four decades. That is why Sunday's night's clash following months of roiling tension has taken many by surprise. Whatever the result, the latest incident is likely to trigger a fresh wave of anti-China sentiments in India, photo of President Xi was burnt in Gujrat state – the home town of PM Modi.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed concern on the reports of violent clashes between India and China on the Line of Actual Control and urged both sides to exercise maximum restraint.
Chinese Media (Global Times) saying that India must make sure similar incidents as that on Monday do not happen again. India must also not miscalculate the current situation and not underestimate China's determination to safeguard its sovereignty and territory. China urged India to investigate the clash incident in the border region on Mon., punish those responsible, and restrain its military forces in the region from preventing any provocative actions: Chinese FM Wang Yi told the Indian FM on the phone.
Indian PM Modi breaks his silence: "I would like to assure the nation that the sacrifice of our jawans will not be in vain. For us, the unity and sovereignty of the country are the most important...India wants peace, but it is capable of giving a befitting reply if instigated": PM Narendra Modi.
It is worth mentioning that India, China with its population of 1.4 Billion, and India, with Its population of 1.3 Billion, are most populous countries, both are nuclear states, and possesses enough piles of lethal weapons to wreck each other. The danger of engulfing the neighboring countries or the whole region is quite severe. India is already involved in border disputes with all its neighbors, either it is Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Pakistan, or China. Even its disputes with distant neighbors like Sri Lanka and the Maldives are also severe in nature. India might expand the war to all its neighbors simultaneously, believing that the humiliation faced from China, maybe compensated from other neighbors. Sinking superpowers may also avail this opportunity to sustain their hegemony too. It might turn into World War III (WWIII). The landscape ahead is rather gloomy.
In fact, the US was supporting India, arming India, up-lifting India politically and diplomatically, strengthening the Indian Economy, and advancing India in S&T, High-Tech, and advanced technologies, aiming to counter China. India thinks it is time to prove its loyalty with the US or the US may want to settle the account what so ever favors have extended to India. However, in a statement, the US said it was closely monitoring the situation. It is to remind that the US kept aside during WW II in the beginning and was planning for Post WW II. When most of the countries involved in WW II were exhausted, damaged, and destroyed, then the US joined at the last leg of WW II, with fresh and full of energy troops. The US may be thinking in the same line, let India and China damage each other, and when exhausted completely, then the US entry may appear and play a decisive role only.
What so ever may happen, the end victim will be human beings, irrespective of any country or nation, but the threat is to human lives. It is time not only to think twice but multiple times, how to save humankind from any big disaster. UN, the International Community, and all individuals with human consciousness may come forward to cool down the situation and rescue human beings.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
