|
Lt. Gen. B.S. Jaswal, who heads the Northern
Command that guards the borders with China and
Pakistan, had been nominated to travel to China
for a regular high-level defence exchange visit.
"Sometime, in July, we were informed that
it would be difficult to take the visit forward
since he (Jaswal) looked after an area which is
'difficult'," said the sources, adding that
it was tantamount to saying that India was in
adverse possession of Kashmir.
For the last few weeks, India had been speaking
to the Chinese officials to resolve the issue.
But, for the time being, India has decided to
stop all exchanges in the defence area, the sources
said, speaking only on condition they were not
identified.
"We should not only introspect, but there
is little point in taking forward defence exchanges
unless this is resolved," the sources told
IANS.
Defence Minister A.K. Antony, however, said the
cancellation of Jaswal's visit was "not the
question of breaking ties."
"There are occasional problems but that
will not affect our broader approach," he
told reporters in Hyderabad.
As an immediate fallout of the Jaswal episode,
three Chinese army officers have been denied visas.
Two captains who were to visit Pachmarhi and a
colonel had been invited for a guest lecture at
the National Defence College here.
Meanwhile, the External Affairs Ministry Aug
27 called for "sensitivity" by Beijing
and also summoned the Chinese envoy here. The
Indian Army only said the general's visit had
been "called off" while both the ruling
Congress and the main opposition Bharatiya Janata
Pary (BJP) called for an appropriate response.
This is the second time that China has raised
a question mark over Kashmir. Earlier, China had
started issuing visas on loose paper stapled to
the Indian passports of residents of Kashmir.
"That in a sense has mushroomed to include
regular defence exchanges...It is not something
that we can accept," the sources said.
The message given to China is that this is a
question of Indian sovereignty. "This issue
is as important to us as Tibet is to China,"
the sources added.
They also pointed out that in variance with its
official stance on Kashmir, China said that it
only questioned India's control of Kashmir.
"In Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, they (China)
are building dams and roads. Chinese engineers
are present in that place. So, their line that
they are not taking sides, is not true".
Pakistan has also given Aksai Chin, a part of
the Jammu and Kashmir, to China.
Indian officials said that they will continue
to have a dialogue with China over the Jaswal
issue, rather than open confrontation.
"We want a candid discussion with China
to resolve this issue and till then, there will
be no military ties with China... We want a fair
resolution of all issues, which is a halt to practice
of issuing stapled visas and making such statements
on regular exchanges," the sources said.
According to the sources, China has to take the
first step to resolve the matter. "They have
tied the knot, they have to untie it," they
said.
Accusing the Chinese of being inconsistent, the
sources said the Chinese had issued a visa to
Lt. Gen V.K. Singh to visit Beijing when he headed
the Indian Army's Eastern Command that has jurisdiction
over Arunachal Pradesh, over which China has staked
its claim.
They also said that Northern Command officials
also had functional meetings with their Chinese
counterparts during regular border meetings in
the Ladakh region.
It was pointed out that China generally had an
aggressive posture on boundary issues, referring
to its recent position on the disputed territory
in the South China Sea. "There is an increase
in its assertiveness at staking claims on islands..
We are monitoring that," the sources said.
(IANS)
|
