Yes Sikkim is far
different and more strategic ~ the only Organic State is a beautiful tourist
location and one has to see the cleanliness to believe that a place could be so
neat and tidy. Besides beautiful scenic spots,
it also has – ‘Nathula Pass’ once a major corridor of passage between India and
Tibet before it was closed in 1962. Located around 56 kms from Gangtok at an
altitude of 14450 ft, the road to Nathula passes through the Tsomgo lake. It is
one of the highest motorable roads in the world and is richly surrounded by
alpine flora. Tourists are allowed to go close to the international border from
where you can see Chinese soldiers at a handshaking distance on the other side of the barbed wire.
On a
visit here, nearer the border, Airtel messaged ~ ‘Welcome to China, Opt for
International roaming pack and enjoy unlimited free incoming calls …. ’ - brushing it aside, Nathu La means the pass of the Listening
Ear. It served as a link on the old silk route between Gangtok and Kalimpong in
India and Yatung in Tibet. This is the route where China suddenly and
arbitrarily stopped the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra over its differences with
Bhutan over the boundary and miffed with India coming to Bhutan's aid. It is at such altitude in hostile weather, our Soldiers
protect us from foreign invasion, and we have to eternally remain indebted to
our Jawans for protecting our motherland and making us feel happy and secure
and with the freedom, we continue to utter every nonsense.
Sikkim, the Organic
State, borders China in its north and east, Bhutan in its east, Nepal in its
west and West Bengal in its south. Sikkim is also located close to the Siliguri
Corridor near Bangladesh. Sikkim is the least populous and second smallest
among the Indian states. A part of the Eastern Himalaya, Sikkim is notable for
its biodiversity, including alpine and subtropical climates, as well as being a
host to Kanchenjunga, the highest peak in India and third highest on Earth.
Sikkim's capital and largest city is Gangtok. The Kingdom of Sikkim was founded
on the Silk Road by the Namgyal dynasty in the 17th century. It was ruled by a
Buddhist priest-king known as the Chogyal. It became a princely state of
British India in 1890. After 1947, Sikkim continued its protectorate status
with the republic of India. It enjoyed the highest literacy rate and per capita
income among Himalayan states. In 1975, the Indian military deposed the
Sikkimese monarchy. A referendum in 1975 led to Sikkim joining India as its
22nd state.
Gangtok, Sikkim’s
capital is located in the eastern
Himalayan range, at an elevation of 1,650 m (5,410 ft). The town's population
of 100,000 belongs to different ethnicities such as Nepalis, Lepchas and
Bhutia. Nestled within higher peaks of the Himalaya and enjoying a year-round
mild temperate climate, Gangtok is at the center of Sikkim's tourism industry.
The Nathula Pass on
the Indo-China border in the state of Sikkim is a strategically important location
for the Indian Army. Blocked by snow in the winters, it is one of the four
Border Personnel Meeting points for the Indian and Chinese armies. A visit to the pass at 4,310 m (14,216 ft)
above mean sea level would make us gasp for breathe and realize the hardship of
being there. The 80 odd steps to the
Indo-China checkpost at such altitude makes you feel the wind, velocity,
chillness and difficulty that our soldiers brave daily.
Besides, Nathu La,
there are Shipkila in Himachal Pradesh
and Lipulekh (or Lipulech) at the trisection point of Uttarakhand–India, Nepal
and China. Sealed by India after the 1962 Sino-Indian War, Nathu La was
re-opened in 2006 following numerous bilateral trade agreements. The opening of
the pass shortens the travel distance to important Hindu and Buddhist
pilgrimage sites in the region and was expected to bolster the economy of the
region by playing a key role in the growing Sino-Indian trade. However, trade
is limited to specific types of goods and to specific days of the week and now
it sealed again with China not allowing Manasarovar pilgrims too. To me and my
family it was a great experience visiting Nathu La and shaking hands with our
soldiers protecting us.
In our
Country, people become military experts in opining on strategies – read this
interesting report in Economic Times on Doklam [forgetting your own
perspectives]
For some strange reason people in
India seem to think that India is somehow on the backfoot in its latest
showdown with China over the Dokalam trijunction. Some feel that should the
situation continue or deteriorate, ‘strategic defiance’ may be the only option.
This, however, is not the impression in Beijing. In private, the Chinese feel
that they, rather than India, are caught in a bind, unable to resort to the use
of force for fear of destroying the myth of nuclear deterrence, but still
supremely confident that strategic defiance by India, on the other hand, will
be economically and diplomatically disastrous for India.
As a
dear friend in Beijing summed it up rather rudely, “India is a dog. Whatever we
do to you, you will first bark and snarl, but then accept and come back wagging
your tail. The problem now is what we can do to you is also very limited.” This
raises the question as to why India feels it is losing control of the
situation. And second, if this idea that India will somehow finally turn on
China is based on reality or plain wishful thinking.
Let us be
clear about one thing — far from losing control, this has, in fact, been one of
the best managed crises by India’s ministry of external affairs. India’s tone has been persistently calm, not threatening action,
but sticking to its guns. And for the first time
in decades, it is standing up to Chinese bullying and staring it down. The
‘losing control’ and ‘escalating crisis’ narratives seem to be emerging only
from a set of strategic commentators whose window seems to be limited to Xinhua
and Global Times, and completely devoid of primary research.
Having
toured the area over the last seven days, there seems to be no escalation in
troop numbers whatsoever. Landing in Lhasa, one could count about 12-14 Sukhoi
family aircraft. And driving past the Shigatse airbase, given the difficulties
of observing the tarmac, one could count between three and seven J-10 fighters.
The entire Lhasa to Shigatse stretch also showed no signs of increased infantry
activity, no spurt in military logistics and only some parade/TV optimised
artillery lined up in Lhasa's marshalling yards along the Lhasa-Beijing
railway. Clearly then, the only real ‘escalation’ that can happen is unarmed
Chinese border troops coming into and squatting in Indian territory, as
suggested by the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs earlier this week — a
major ‘climb-down’, if one can call it that — from previous threats, which were
ominous simply because of the lack of specificity.
We also
have a pattern of similar action across the South China Sea to judge China by.
It has resorted to similar ‘sea grabs’ there, depending purely on the fear of
the other parties to the dispute to avoid escalating the situation to
fatalities. That fear simply doesn’t work with India, for the simple reason
that both sides are nuclear-armed. This is particularly important as the
situation thus far indicates that while India’s doctrine of deterrence may have
failed on the western front (in all fairness, it was never directed against
Pakistan), it has had a clear success in the east (where it was directed all
along) by putting hard limits on how far China can escalate.
The
diplomatic and strategic costs of escalation for China now are severe, even if
Indian warheads can’t reach the Chinese eastern seaboard, taking China down
several pegs equating it with rogue revisionist states like Pakistan and
destroying the image of it being a more or less ‘responsible’ player on the
world stage. All indicators then are that short of an extremely serious
miscalculation by the Chinese leadership, the situation has plateaued. The only
spikes will be verbal, and that too from the Chinese side.
Which
also complicates things for the Chinese leadership when it chooses to
de-escalate. It, however, seems to have realised its mistake after its first
attempt to do so — claiming that India had reduced the number of troops. The
furious denial by India caught it off guard with colleagues in Beijing
admitting that they had miscalculated, and not factored in how this would be
perceived in India domestically.
All up,
we seem stuck in limbo. Escalation is not an option for China. But
de-escalation also seems impossible, till public attention is shifted
elsewhere. On the other hand, it is high time the Indian media also realise
what the MEA and PMO seemed to have long back — that Indian strategic defiance
is a non-starter.
China’s
massive infusion of finished goods, such as mobile phones, are the core drivers
of the Indian economy and impossible to substitute. Equally, if we choose to go
against China, we might as well kiss goodbye to any chance of UN Security
Council and Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) membership. In this situation,
Dokalam is a win, an emphatic win, the best possible under the circumstances,
marking the first serious Indian (and arguably global) pushback to Chinese
salami tactics.
The
writer, Abhijit Iyer-Mitra is senior
fellow, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi. Views expressed are
personal. Economic Times ~ India winning Doklam
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/india-is-winning-doklam-war-without-firing-a-single-bullet-a-policy-expert-explains-how/articleshow/60015368.cms?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ETFBMain
· PS : Visitors to Nathu La can buy a Certificate wherein one can post their photos ~ the acclaimed trophy reads : ''Nations Have no permanent friends and foes. They only have permanent interests. It takes years to build capabilities, intentions can change anytime.'' · Soon would post one on Harbhajan mandir at Nathu La.
Long live our
Nation and long live those Jawans who protect us. Jai Jawan, Jai Hind.
With regards –
S. Sampathkumar
15th Aug 2017.
