Editorial:Let’s Show China the Finger

The Fingertip Area in North Sikkim, the portion which juts into Tibet after tourists take a right turn for Gurudongmar Lake, is back in the news with the national media claiming incursions by the PLA even as border and army personnel in Sikkim deny the reports. Be that as it may, Chinese showboating is not new to its borders with India, whether along Sikkim or elsewhere. Reports of Chinese aggression had peaked back in the year 2008, and below we reprint an editorial from 20 May 2008. Irrespective of the situation at the border, the sentiments shared in the editorial still hold strong and the opinion remains unchanged…

While Delhi expended copious amounts of midnight oil to ensure that Beijing was not embarrassed by democracy-leaning citizens and guests when the Olympic torch trampled over Rajpath, China indulged in some inspired whimsicalities. Having gobbled up a large bite of Bhutan from the international tri-junction along East Sikkim from right under the nose of Bhutan’s large neighbour, the People’s Liberation Army is now claiming that a finger of North Sikkim that pokes into Tibet is actually a part of their hand. National media reports on Monday quoted “Government sources” as trying to downplay the whole episode as a “minor and local” matter. No wonder China continues to harbour designs on Indian territory. If the same “government sources” are modulating foreign policy and deciding defence priorities, the reason why our country’s foreign policy is in such disarray becomes very clear.
Territory can never be a “minor” issue and any babu who says so in Delhi should serve a tour of duty in the frozen desolation of the recently-made-disputed territory in North Sikkim and then justify why our soldiers are made to suffer such extreme privation for what are essentially “minor and local” matters. The pusillanimity of those who sit on negotiating tables has passed down a situation where, after having risked life and limb, the Indian soldier is told to ignore the demolition of its bunkers by China because they technically fell on Bhutanese soil. India has signed a treaty to defend Bhutan against aggression and it was with aggression that China encroached 10 odd kilometres into Bhutan and thereby technically erased the international “tri-junction” that marked the southeastern tip of Sikkim. But hey, that is a treaty with Bhutan, and with China, Delhi seems to have a conduct manual that supersedes all prescribed guidelines of self respect. And so, within eight months of the tri-junction adventure, a bolder China has created a new disputed territory, this time within Sikkim. One needs to confirm with the defence ministry whether this development is part of our confidence-building initiatives vis a vis China. In December last [2007], the Defence Minister, while air-dropping greetings to soldiers in border areas here, had said: “As this is a semi-developed border, incidents might have happened. But we are trying to find solutions by building positive relations with the Chinese on border issues.” He was responding to media queries on the confrontations that were still fresh at the time in the tri-junction area. The positivity that the defence ministry was trying to build has indeed been a very positive confidence booster for Chinese forces it seems.
On the present dispute, the Indian army has invited the PLA to a “ground meeting” to resolve the territorial claims over a zone the Indian army refers to as the “Finger Area” north of Giagong en route to Gurudongmar. A ground meeting is one in which the two sides put documentary evidence supporting their claims [to territory, in this case] on the table in the hope of resolving the confusion on the spot. That’s a very good idea. No aggression, no fighting, let’s just show China the Finger… on the map and in old documents, that is, as a part of Sikkim. And while we are at it, let’s do the same for Delhi too to establish that it is not a “small tract of land”.
While on document-sharing mode, maybe our soldiers can also include some photographs of Indian tourists posing along the disputed zone which incidentally marks the left bank horizon on the drive up to Gurudongmar. As for Mr. Antony, a positive development on border issues is not necessarily nurtured across the border, a more positive development is guaranteed if the people on this side are taken into confidence. Keep the areas up to the border open for locals and tourists and establish an emotional bond among them for the empty lands. Every civilian footfall in these zones reiterates the Indianess of the soil. The paranoia should be directed beyond the borders and not inverted. For those who still live in times when on-ground espionage was a worry, they should try the Google Earth to realise how redundant their fears are.