Tag: India China standoff

Chinese imports curbs: DPIIT shares second list of 1172 items; India Inc worried about supply chain

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Indian government appears to have upped the ante on reducing import dependence on China as the border issue still remains unresolved.

The Department For Promotion Of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has prepared a second list covering 1172 Made In China items ranging from toasters to elevators, and has sought comments from India Inc on import curbs.

This is the second list shared by DPIIT in the past three days with industry associations for their comments.

Sources told CNBC-TV18 that bodies like FICCI, Assocham and CII have gone into a huddle to assess the impact of import curbs on items mentioned in the new DPIIT list. The nature of the proposed import curbs that DPIIT proposes to impose is not yet known.

Members of industry associations told CNBC-TV18 that several items in the new DPIIT list are critical for manufacturing value chains in India as those goods are not made in India.

“We need to be careful before imposing import curbs on the items which DPIIT has prepared. Import curbs not advisable on items not made in India. This will disrupt domestic value chains,” said a member of one of the industry associations who has seen the list.

The list mostly covers items from sectors like consumer goods, battery parts, auto components, electrical machinery as well as industrial goods and machinery.

Consumer goods included in the new DPIIT list includes toasters, refrigerators, air conditioners, coffee makers, microwave ovens, shavers, cutlery, and even sewing machines.

Electrical goods where DPIIT wants to impose import curbs include circuit breakers, high capacity switches, resistors, generators as well as DC motors.

The list also includes goods like elevators, roller bearings, valves, pneumatic tools, parts of food processing machinery and coal handling plants. Critical battery related items like lithium and primary cells are also included in the list.

In FY19, imports of goods in the DPIIT list pf 1172 items were valued at $ 12 billion, which was 10 percent higher than the previous year. These items comprise 2 percent of India’s import basket of $ 514 billion in FY19. Overall merchandise imports from China in that year stood at $ 70.31 billion, which was 10 percent higher than the previous year.

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China’s attempt to advance exaggerated and untenable, says India’s Foreign Ministry

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India’s foreign ministry on Saturday firmly rejected China’s claims over Galwan valley. Ever since the violent clash on 15th June, China has been claiming sovereignty over Galwan region. On Friday, the Chinese Foreign office once again reiterated their claim. “The Galwan Valley is located on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control in the west section of the China-India boundary. For many years, the Chinese border troops have been patrolling and on duty in this region”, said Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs has now released a step by step account of the events leading up to the clash on 15th June. However, the exact circumstances of the clash are still unknown. “The Chinese side departed from these understandings in respect of the LAC in the Galwan Valley area and sought to erect structures just across the LAC. When this attempt was foiled, Chinese troops took violent actions on 15 June 2020 that directly resulted in casualties”, said MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava.

India has also accused China of attempting transgressions in different areas across the LAC in May. Both sides had agreed to disengage and de-escalate after an understanding was reached on June 6 between Corps Commanders.

Little is known about what happened between June 6 and June 15. What is known is that Indian troops led by Commanding Officer Santosh Babu went to speak to Chinese personnel to clear the air over the disengagement.

Galwan valley, was the area which witnessed the worst clash between India and China since 1975. Twenty Indian soldiers died in the clash and 10 others were captured.

Galwan was never a point of dispute in India-China ties, but India’s move to build a bridge over the Galwan nallah, connecting the strategically important Shyok-DBO road leading up to Daulat Beg Oldi airstrip got the Chinese worried. The bridge is approximately 7 kilometre from the LAC. China has been objecting to this bridge since May 5, when the first clash took place at Pangong Tso.

China which has heavily invested in building border infrastructure, doesn’t want India to catch up. India’s former foreign secretary Nirupama Rao recently remarked that China doesn’t want India to be seen as its peer.

“It is not going to be easy to get China to move out of the areas they are in now along the border zones. China’s pattern of behavior is to occupy territory and it takes years to get them to move. We have to analyse why China is acting the way it is”, Rao said. She added that India is dealing with a very muscular and assertive China completely intent on enforcing it’s territorial claims.

Statements from China’s foreign ministry show a clear attempt to change the narrative and claim historical rights over Galwan.

China has now accused India of building bridges and roads in Galwan since April, and unilaterally changing the status quo.

“By the early morning of May 6, the Indian border troops, who have crossed the LAC by night and trespassed into China’s territory, have built fortification and barricades, which impeded the patrol of Chinese border troops They deliberately made provocations in an attempt to unilaterally change the status quo of control and management,” said the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson.

“Shockingly, on the evening of June 15, India’s front-line troops, in violation of the agreement reached at the commander-level meeting, once again crossed the Line of Actual Control for deliberate provocation when the situation in the Galwan Valley was already easing, and even violently attacked the Chinese officers and soldiers who went there for negotiation, thus triggering fierce physical conflicts and causing casualties”,

What is also important is that China for the first time is admitting that there were casualties in the incident, though it remains ambiguous about any casualty on its own side.

Experts argue that it is going to be difficult to get China to move back troops from the positions that they may have taken along the LAC.

“In Pangong Tso it looks difficult. But in the other places they have not really come across the LAC”, said Manoj Joshi, a senior strategic affairs expert at the Observer Research Foundation.

Lieutenant General Rameshwar Roy, the former head of the Nagrota based 16 Corps said it is going to be very difficult for India to get the Chinese troops to move back and India must now safeguard its positions at all costs.

“These Chinese PLA people in Galwan Valley are here to stay and they will make sure that we are not able to carry out any activity on the DBO road and that is the ground implication which is very dangerous for all times to come for future generation,” Roy said.

As the Prime Minister tries to calm tempers by saying that no one intruded into Indian territory and Indian soldiers responded befittingly, there are intense diplomatic talks underway. Subrahmaniyam Jaishankar in his phone call with his counterpart Wang Yi has rejected China’s attempts to misrepresent the disengagement understanding reached on 6th June. “The two sides are in regular touch and early meetings of military and diplomatic mechanisms are currently being discussed”, said the Ministry of External Affairs.

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China reacts cautiously to mounting boycott calls of its products in India, says it values ties

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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China on Friday reacted guardedly to calls for a boycott of Chinese products and investments in India following the brutal attack on Indian soldiers at the Galwan Valley, saying it values its relations with New Delhi and both countries are in talks to ease the situation.

The boycott calls and the growing anti-India sentiment is causing a sense of disquiet in China especially among its telecom companies like Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo etc which made a big dent in the Indian market, the second-largest in the world after China in mobile phones.

China is the biggest beneficiary of the bilateral trade with India, with about USD 60 billion balance of trade in its favour in about USD 92.68 total trade in 2019.

Asked about growing calls in India to boycott Chinese products and investments, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the responsibility for the crisis lies with India.

I would like to reiterate that regarding the serious situation in the Galwan valley, the right and wrong is very clear and the responsibility entirely lies with the Indian side,” he said.

On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and the two sides agreed to “cool down” tensions on the ground “as soon as possible”.

During the conversation, Jaishankar conveyed to Wang India’s protest in the strongest terms on the violent face-off and said the unprecedented development will have “serious impact” on the bilateral ties.

“The Chinese side took premeditated and planned action that was directly responsible for the resulting violence and casualties. It reflected an intent to change the facts on the ground in violation of all our agreements to not change the status quo,” Jaishankar told Wang.

At the Chinese Foreign Ministry briefing, spokesman Zhao said, Both China and India are in communication with each other through diplomatic and military channels on easing the situation.

China values our bilateral relations. We hope the Indian side can work with China to jointly maintain the long-term development of bilateral relations,” he said.

Twenty Indian Army personnel were killed in the clash with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley on Monday night, in the biggest military confrontation in over five decades that has significantly escalated the already volatile border standoff between the two countries.

The impact of rising tensions between China and India following the latest border brawl seems to be spreading to Chinese companies in India,” a report in the state-run Global Times said on Friday.

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo on Wednesday cancelled the live online launch of its flagship 5G handset in India, it said.

The deadly border incident was something neither party could have anticipated or wanted to see, and the consequent rising nationalist fever in India has already caused significant pressure to bilateral relations and economic ties,” the report said.

It is high time to call for both governments and the people to show rationality in the face of the border tension to maintain the stability of bilateral economic and trade ties. Whether China-India relations can weather the current difficulties will be a major test for the resilience of the two countries’ economic ties,” the report said.

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Army says no connection between ceasefire violations along LoC and Indo-China border standoff

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Army on Friday said there is no connection between the Pakistan-initiated ceasefire violations along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir and the situation on the Line of Actual Control with China in the Ladakh region.

It, however, asserted that no “misadventure” would be allowed along the borders in the union territory.

“The ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC) are happening as per the old strategy in which it wants to push in more terrorists into the valley. If there is one entity in the world which is not happy with the peace in the valley, it is Pakistan,” Lt Gen B S Raju, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps, said here.

“The moment there is peace in the valley, it generates violence — both from across as ceasefire violation as well as sending instructions to entities or its proxies within the valley to generate violence,” he said.

He was speaking at a joint press conference along with senior officers of Jammu and Kashmir Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) here.

Lt Gen Raju said he does not see any major connection between the situation in Ladakh and the ceasefire violations in Jammu and Kashmir as of now.

“I do not see any such major connection as of now. The existing ceasefire violations have happened through a pattern and there has not been any great increase in the number of ceasefire violations, but, definitely, some of them have been intense in which the Pakistan-initiated ceasefire violations have inflicted some civilian casualties,” he said.

He said the Army is taking proper measures to provide more security and safety to the civilian population in the areas near to the LoC.

“Some action on the construction of civilian bunker has started, some places it has been done, but I think there is more required to be done. We are fully prepared at the LoC to ensure that this particular phenomena of ceasefire violations and infiltration is kept in check,” he said.

Lt Gen Raju said while the situation on the LoC was stable, the Army would ensure there will be no misadventure from across.

“I would like to assure everybody that the situation on the Line of Control and in the hinterland is stable. We will ensure that there will be no misadventure both from outside of the Line of Control and as well as within the valley. And, we will ensure that the situation is kept normal and the people of the valley will be able to go about their jobs in the most normal manner,” he said.

Asked about the situation along the LAC in Ladakh, the GOC said, “The situation as far as I am aware is in control and whatever is required to be done in that area by the forces, which are required to operate, are capable of doing their job.

“I must also say that this is one of the contingency that the Army is aware could happen and that particular contingency is being played out and whatever actions are required to be taken, are being done,” he said.

Speaking about the situation on the border, Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh said the security forces were conscious of the threats and were adequately responding to those.

“We are conscious of the fact that our neighbour and the agencies which are there to perpetuate violence in this region, are making efforts to infiltrate and send in more numbers of terrorists for various sectors, we have been adequately responding to that threat.

“Our highway grids, our border grids are fully alert. We are in a position to take care of any emergent challenge anywhere and we would definitely be on the side of our people. They have been very cooperative and they have extended all kinds of cooperation,” he said.

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India-China stand-off: Surveillance post set up by Chinese on Indian side of LAC triggered clash

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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A surveillance post set up by the Chinese Army on a narrow mountain trail in violation of an agreement was the trigger for the high altitude border clash in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley in which at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Indian troops, commanded by the late Col B Santosh Babu, strongly objected to the post on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on the southern banks of the Galwan river and attempted to remove it on Monday evening, sources in the know said, recapping the events leading to the biggest military confrontation between the two neighbours in five decades.

A small group of Chinese personnel present at the camp reacted angrily to the objections of the Indian Army’s patrolling team but soon retreated to the Chinese side of the LAC. They returned shortly after with more troops, wearing protective gear and armed with stones, nail-studded sticks, iron rods and clubs, and confronted the Indian personnel.

At that point, the Indian soldiers had also been joined by additional troops and were attempting to remove the temporary structure, those familiar with the matter said.

The clash that followed went on for several hours on the vertiginous heights of eastern Ladakh with Chinese soldiers brutally attacking the Indians, they said.
One portion of the road caved in following which some Indian and Chinese soldiers fell into the Galwan river, they said. The LAC goes over the Galwan river in the area.

Babu and 19 other Indian Army personnel were killed in the fight on the steep heights. It is learnt that initially a number of Indians were captured by the Chinese side but were released later.

The Indian side also retaliated strongly, but the casualties on the Chinese side are not yet known. However, government sources, citing an American intelligence report, claimed the total number of soldiers killed and seriously wounded could be 35.

The broad decision to disengage at Galwan Valley was taken at talks between Lt Gen Harinder Singh, general officer commanding of the Leh-based 14 Corps, and Commander of the Tibet Military District, Maj Gen Liu Lin, on June 6.

The meeting was followed by two rounds of major general-level talks, the sources said.

The final modalities for disengagement were drawn up at a major general-level meeting on Friday under which both sides were to retreat for at least two kilometres from their existing position in Galwan Valley.

The following day, on Saturday, Indian Army Chief Gen M M Naravane said in Dehradun that both armies are “disengaging” in a phased manner beginning from Galwan Valley and the situation in the region is under control.

In its statement on Tuesday, the Ministry of External Affairs blamed the Chinese side for the clash, saying it departed from the consensus to respect the LAC in Galwan Valley.

“On the late-evening and night of 15th June, 2020 a violent face-off happened as a result of an attempt by the Chinese side to unilaterally change the status quo there,” it said.

The MEA said both sides suffered casualties that could have been avoided had the agreement reached at the higher level been scrupulously followed by the Chinese side.

It also said India is very clear that all its activities are always within the Indian side of the LAC.

It is the biggest confrontation between the two militaries after their 1967 clashes in Nathu La in 1967 when India lost around 80 soldiers while over 300 Chinese army personnel were killed in the confrontation.

The two armies have been engaged in a standoff in Galwan and several other areas of the eastern Ladakh since May 5 when the two sides clashed on the banks of the Pangong Tso.

After the standoff began, the Indian military leadership decided that Indian troops will adopt a firm approach in dealing with the aggressive posturing by the Chinese troops in all disputed areas of Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley, Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldie, the sources said.

The Chinese Army has been gradually ramping up its strategic reserves in its rear bases near the LAC by rushing in artillery guns, infantry combat vehicles and heavy military equipment

The trigger for the face-off was China’s stiff opposition to India laying a key road in the Finger area around the Pangong Tso Lake besides construction of another road connecting the Darbuk-Shayok-Daulat Beg Oldie road in Galwan Valley.

The road in the Finger area in Pangong Tso is considered crucial for India to carry out patrols. India has already decided not to stall any border infrastructure projects in eastern Ladakh in view of Chinese protests.

The situation in the area deteriorated after around 250 Chinese and Indian soldiers faced off on May 5 and 6. The incident in Pangong Tso was followed by a similar incident in north Sikkim on May 9.

The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488-km-long LAC. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet, while India contests it.

Both sides have been asserting that pending the final resolution of the boundary issue, it is necessary to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas.

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India China standoff: 2 countries maintaining engagements to resolve eastern Ladakh row, says MEA

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India and China are maintaining military and diplomatic engagements to peacefully resolve the eastern Ladakh row at the earliest, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.

At a weekly media briefing, Spokesperson in the MEA Anurag Srivastava said both sides have agreed to work for an early resolution to the issue in keeping with broader guidance provided by leaders of the two countries for ensuring peace and tranquillity along the border areas.

He, however, did not respond to questions relating to reports of pulling back of troops by both India and China from certain friction points in the Galwan Valley and Hot Spring areas in eastern Ladakh in the last few days.

“A meeting was held between core commanders of India and China on June 6. This meeting was in continuation of our diplomatic and military engagement which both sides maintained in order to address the situation in areas along the India-China border,” the MEA spokesperson said.

“It was agreed in the meeting that an early resolution of the situation would be in keeping with guidance of our leaders. The two sides are, therefore, maintaining military and diplomatic engagements to peacefully resolve the situation at the earliest and also to ensure peace and tranquillity in the border areas,” he said.

“This is essential for further development of India-China bilateral relations,” Srivastava said.

Military sources on Tuesday claimed that the two armies began “disengagement” around patrolling points 14 and 15 in Galwan Valley and another in the Hot Spring area, adding that the Chinese side has even moved back up to 1.5 km in the two areas.

Indian and Chinese troops were in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation since May 5 following a violent clash on the banks of the Pangong lake.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow