Page 1 of
1 In Kunming, an exercise in
uneasiness By Sudha
Ramachandran
BANGALORE - Forty-five years
after they fought a brief but bloody war in the
Himalayan heights, the Indian and Chinese armies
are preparing for their first-ever joint military
exercise. The eight-day long exercise, commencing
on December 20, will take place in the Kunming
military region in China's Yunnan province.
India and China will send around 80
soldiers each to participate in the war games.
Counter-terrorism will be the focus.
According to the weekly news magazine
Outlook, the joint exercises could also involve
anti-hijacking operations. "The two
sides
will conduct joint operations at the company and
battalion levels and work together as a single
unit in mock counter-insurgency situations. They
will share weapons, rations, logistics, tactics,
operational concepts, battle procedures and try
and evolve joint doctrines," the report says.
For decades, Sino-Indian relations have
been defined by distrust. This distrust has its
roots in the border war the two countries fought
in October 1962. China inflicted a humiliating
defeat on India and captured swathes of Indian
territory. Aksai Chin in the western sector
remains under Chinese control to date.
Normalization of relations began in the
1980s and the two countries now engage in
cooperation in an array of fields including trade
and investment, agriculture, education, cultural
exchange and so on. In 1993, they signed a treaty
for peace and tranquility along the border and
agreed to reduce troop levels along their
frontiers.
Still, their dispute over their
4,056-kilometer border remains unresolved. In
1987, the two countries nearly went to war again.
And there have been innumerable skirmishes along
the border in the years since, especially in the
eastern sector. China claims around 90,000 square
km of Indian territory in the eastern sector,
roughly approximating the state of Arunachal
Pradesh.
Given the history of their
military engagement along the border, the upcoming
joint military exercises are indeed a milestone.
But this is not the first time that the two armies
have worked together. In 2004, they launched a
joint mountaineering expedition to scale a
6,650-meter peak in central Tibet. The two navies
have engaged in joint exercises since 2003, the
most recent coming in April this year at Qingdao,
the headquarters of the Chinese Navy's North Sea
Fleet. This is, however, the first time the two
armies will exercise together.
The
upcoming joint exercises will come in handy for
the Indian government to deflect criticism over
its excessive tilt towards the US. India hosted a
multi-nation naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal
recently that involved the US, Japan, Australia
and Singapore. The joint naval exercise was viewed
in China and among the Left parties in India as a
step towards containing China. The Indian
government will be hoping that the upcoming
India-China joint exercises will help correct that
perception.
Hitherto, steps at enhancing
bilateral military cooperation have included
attending courses at each other's military
training facilities, high level visits of each
other's military establishments and allowing each
other's military observers at military exercises
and maneuvers. The foundation for the upcoming
military exercise was laid in May 2006, when India
and China signed a memorandum of understanding on
defense cooperation which provided for, among
other things, joint military exercises involving
search and rescue, anti-piracy, counter-terrorism
and other areas of mutual interest. In June,
Indian officials announced that the two countries
had reached agreement on a joint counter-terrorism
exercise.
Counter-terrorism is an
important priority in the national security
agendas of both countries.Yet analysts in India,
while willing to describe the upcoming exercises
as "significant", are not euphoric in their
assessment of what it will achieve. It could
broadly contribute to India's counter-terrorism
objective. But, in terms of specifics, the general
verdict of analysts here in India is that it is of
little use.
"It is all very well to engage
in joint counter-terrorism exercises but this will
remain meaningless so long as the Chinese are
reluctant to endorse India's concerns with regard
to cross-border terrorism," points out a retired
Indian diplomat, who spoke to Asia Times Online on
condition of anonymity.
The main threat to
India's security comes from terrorism emanating
from and often backed by Pakistan, China's
"all-weather friend". "And China, mindful of
Islamabad's sensitivities on the matter has been
reluctant to speak out against Pakistan's role in
fostering anti-India terrorist groups," the
retired diplomat said. "This will cast a long
shadow on the upcoming event and stand in the way
of a meaningful Sino-Indian joint
counter-terrorism exercise."
Indeed,
Pakistan's sensitivities never seem to be far away
in China's thoughts while "cooperating" with India
in counter-terrorism efforts. Srikanth Kondapalli,
China expert and associate professor at the
Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, recalls
that a couple of years ago, China backed out from
a proposed
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