ID :
156799
Tue, 01/11/2011 - 15:46
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/156799
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Sino-India ties under strain over new Kashmir incursions: Report
Srinagar, India, Jan 11, IRNA -- Tensions are gradually mounting between India and China, 2 Asian giants, over disputed border in Kashmir as reports of fresh Chinese incursions into Kashmir have escalated fears of a hoting-up of border in the cold desert.
The Chinese, the reports said, crossed a de-facto border, in a remote Kashmir district, threatened an Indian contractor, stopped all work and shouted slogans in Chinese, before retreating to their own side of the border.
The incident occurred between September and October last year and triggered panic among the workers and has stalled development work since.
The Chinese incursions have largely been slow and steady through the Line of Actual Control in South-eastern Kashmir where China controls a chunk of Kashmiri territory known as Aksai Chin.
In June 2009 the Chinese reportedly violated airspace over Leh, a strategically located town in north-eastern Kashmir district of Ladakh. The very next month was another incursion in Ladakh with the Chinese entering 1.5 kilometers into the Indian controlled territory.
And in November 2009, an incursion took place in the very same area where the Chinese troops threatened some Indian contractors.
Despite this region being nearly uninhabitable and having no resources, it remains strategically important for China.
The China National Highway, connecting Tibet with Muslim region of Xinjiang, passes through Aksai Chin adding to its strategic importance.
One of the main causes of the 1962 war between India and China is said to be India's discovery of the road that the Chinese had built through Aksai Chin, shown as Chinese on official Chinese maps.
The British negotiated boundary that separates Indian-administered areas of Kashmir from Aksai Chin is known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
However, the Chinese have never accepted the boundary.
The two countries have thus far conducted 14 rounds of talks to resolve the dispute.
In September last year the Chinese troops apparently stopped a contractor who was building a passenger shed under the direction of the Border Area Development Project of Ministry of Home Affairs in Gombir area in Demchok region close to the LAC.
The shed was being built at the 'T' point in village Gombir in the frontier Kashmir region. The work was underway when motorcycle borne Chinese troops from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) crossed the LAC, entered the area and threatened the civilian workers who were building the shed, the Indian officials said.
The workers were shaken by the presence of the Chinese personnel and sought the Indian Army's help on the issue. The Army instead decided to check with the State government who in turn approachedthe Ministry of Defense.
This intrusion came a month before the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited India.
New Delhi is worried about the growing Chinese influence which has expanded from the LAC to the Northern Areas of Pakistan.
In August, the New York Times revealed that there are 11,000 Chinese troops in Gilgit-Baltistan Area of Kashmir presently under the Pakistani control.
Beijing has also annoyed the New Delhi by ignoring its repeated pleas on the visas to the Kashmiris. The Chinese embassy in India has been issuing stapled visas to residents of Kashmir instead of stamping them on regular Indian passports signalling that it does not consider the disputed state as a part of India./end
The Chinese, the reports said, crossed a de-facto border, in a remote Kashmir district, threatened an Indian contractor, stopped all work and shouted slogans in Chinese, before retreating to their own side of the border.
The incident occurred between September and October last year and triggered panic among the workers and has stalled development work since.
The Chinese incursions have largely been slow and steady through the Line of Actual Control in South-eastern Kashmir where China controls a chunk of Kashmiri territory known as Aksai Chin.
In June 2009 the Chinese reportedly violated airspace over Leh, a strategically located town in north-eastern Kashmir district of Ladakh. The very next month was another incursion in Ladakh with the Chinese entering 1.5 kilometers into the Indian controlled territory.
And in November 2009, an incursion took place in the very same area where the Chinese troops threatened some Indian contractors.
Despite this region being nearly uninhabitable and having no resources, it remains strategically important for China.
The China National Highway, connecting Tibet with Muslim region of Xinjiang, passes through Aksai Chin adding to its strategic importance.
One of the main causes of the 1962 war between India and China is said to be India's discovery of the road that the Chinese had built through Aksai Chin, shown as Chinese on official Chinese maps.
The British negotiated boundary that separates Indian-administered areas of Kashmir from Aksai Chin is known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
However, the Chinese have never accepted the boundary.
The two countries have thus far conducted 14 rounds of talks to resolve the dispute.
In September last year the Chinese troops apparently stopped a contractor who was building a passenger shed under the direction of the Border Area Development Project of Ministry of Home Affairs in Gombir area in Demchok region close to the LAC.
The shed was being built at the 'T' point in village Gombir in the frontier Kashmir region. The work was underway when motorcycle borne Chinese troops from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) crossed the LAC, entered the area and threatened the civilian workers who were building the shed, the Indian officials said.
The workers were shaken by the presence of the Chinese personnel and sought the Indian Army's help on the issue. The Army instead decided to check with the State government who in turn approachedthe Ministry of Defense.
This intrusion came a month before the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited India.
New Delhi is worried about the growing Chinese influence which has expanded from the LAC to the Northern Areas of Pakistan.
In August, the New York Times revealed that there are 11,000 Chinese troops in Gilgit-Baltistan Area of Kashmir presently under the Pakistani control.
Beijing has also annoyed the New Delhi by ignoring its repeated pleas on the visas to the Kashmiris. The Chinese embassy in India has been issuing stapled visas to residents of Kashmir instead of stamping them on regular Indian passports signalling that it does not consider the disputed state as a part of India./end
