Evil Designs Of An Expansionist China

The Galwan Valley incident is a further proof of China’s untrustworthy and expansionist policy, as it did in Aksai Chin, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Manchuria or the South Sea, among others. While our brave hearts fended off the threat with their lives, and the government is working on rallying international support, it is up to us citizens to do our bit as well

A billon salutes to our brave hearts who got martyred while fighting for the motherland! These 20 soldiers, including their commanding officer, laid their lives at Galwan Valley, when they were patrolling to watch the disengagement process which was decided on 6th June. The killings were a brutal act of treachery by the coward Chinese army (PLA), which it executed with nail fitted rods. Our brave hearts proved their mettle killing more than 40 Chinese soldiers before sending many PLA force to their pre-meditated design. Instead of disengaging as per the accord, they chose to show their true colours. Our ambushed jawans were not unnerved and they went to prove that if you kill our one, then we will kill your two. The Chinese did not disclose the number of casualties but their big number was not hidden.

Galwan never China’s

Galwan Valley is in Ladakh. The Galwan River was discovered by Ghulam Rasool Galwan, an explorer from Leh. The explorer, while leading a British expedition moving north of Chang Chenmo Valley, first discovered the path to the river. The Galwan River flows from Samzungling which is on the western side of the Karakoram range to Shyok River in Ladakh. It is one of the upstream tributaries of the Indus. The river, as per Chinese claim in 1956, is on the west of its claim-line in the Aksai Chin. However, in 1960 China advanced its claim-line to the west of the Galwan River along the mountain range adjoining Shyok River. The Galwan Valley area importantly figured in the Indo-China war of 1962. At the end of the war, China moved physically to its 1960 claim line and that became the LAC, which continues to this day.

After the 15th June fight, China claims that the entire valley belongs to it. India has already dismissed the Chinese nonsense. This valley was never with China and no Chinese name was even associated with it. China with its expansionist policy is just trying to grab it by force.

The Galwan Valley is strategically located as Chinait is extremely near the Karakoram Pass. Aksai Chin which is again a part of Ladakh but under Chinese control, can be reached through the Karakoram Pass. India is creating infrastructure on its side to counter the long-created infrastructure by the Chinese on their side. The vital road link is created by India to connect Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) which is the world’s highest landing ground, and which is also remarkably close to the LAC. The creation of infrastructure by India is not liked by China, as it feels threatened that it’s illegally occupied Aksai Chin can be attacked by India.

Nor was Aksai Chin

Aksai Chin was not on the Chinese map. It was a part of Kashmir and it was under the occupation of Raja Gulab Singh of Kashmir and it continued with the ruler of Kashmir till its accession with India. Aksai Chin is a relatively recent Chinese sponsored Uighur name. Ladakhis and Tibetans called it by a Sanskrit name, ‘Gosthana’ (place of the cows). The Chinese have no history of presence in the region. They are just recent occupiers. When China wanted to annex Tibet, it created a high-altitude road passing through this region to reach Tibet. India came to know of this road only in 1957 when the road was already completed. Aksai Chin was taken control by China and it was too late for India to do anything forceful. The worst was that we lost the Indo China war of 1962. China is trying its best to attack us at the Galwan Valley so that we do not reach the Karakoram Pass or Aksai Chin. It is sad to note that we lost Aksai Chin in 1962. The Karakoram Pass was also lost to China in 1963 when Pakistan entered into an illegal deal with China on territory that belongs to us.

Aksai Chin was not on the Chinese map. It was a part of Kashmir and it was under the occupation of Raja Gulab Singh of Kashmir and it continued with the ruler of Kashmir till its accession with India. Aksai Chin is a relatively recent Chinese sponsored Uighur name. Ladakhis and Tibetans called it by a Sanskrit name, ‘Gosthana’ (place of the cows). The Chinese have no history of presence in the region. They are just recent occupiers

Predatory aspirations

China follows an expansionist policy and it has an unsatisfied hunger to grab territories of other countries. It is estimated that roughly 43% of its area has come out of its unethical grabbing. China was a smaller land area south of the Great China Wall until 1949. The rest of the areas like Tibet, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Manchuria are under the occupation of expansionist China out of its vulturous zeal. The same zeal has triggered the evil eyes of China on the South China Sea today. The countries bordering the South China Sea are threatened. The islands in this sea have been the initial targets and many of them have already been occupied. Artificial islands in the sea have been created and occupied and have been converted as military bases to harass the bordering countries of the sea and to control the busiest traffic of ships.

The evil design against India which started in 1962 continues to this day. India shares a border of 4088 km with China and it passes through the union territory of Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim. After 1962, there have been frequent skirmishes in different sectors on the borders but after the 1967 skirmish at Nathu La, there were no loss of lives till the treacherous killings in the Galwan Valley on 15th June. One serious problem is that the borderline is disputed, as China does not accept the borderline set by the British. The frequent skirmishes are due to another policy of China of ‘moving two steps forward and one step backwards’ and thus creating a new LAC. Unfortunately, we have failed to do enough to freeze the LAC and raising the issue about the captured area. China believes in the policy that ‘offence is the best defence’ and keeps on increasing its claim on Arunachal Pradesh and now the Galwan Valley, and resists discussing about the areas captured by it. China believes that it is not in its interest to settle the border issue as it helps it to increase its claim and to keep terrorising our country.

China launched the BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) a few years back to spread its economic hegemony. Countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and the Maldives were the first customers of BRI. India opposed the BRI eloquently and now many developed countries support it. The Doklam incident happened probably due to the bruised ego of China. Now, Galwan Valley incident has happened because India has accused China of being involved in the spread of the coronavirus. Also, China cannot tolerate that India is emerging as a ‘superpower’ and that too in its backyard. India, along with Japan, the US and Australia, have been speaking against the Chinese policy of controlling the sea in its vicinity and this might have hurt the ego of China. India is a democratic country headed by a powerful leadership and probably China does not like this.

Stand our ground

We are unlucky to have neighbours like China and its ally Pakistan. We cannot change the geography but we can change the situation as today we are not the India of 1962. We must keep on adding to our strength both militarily and economically. We will choose friends as per our liking and not to please China or any other country. We are not expansionist and will never think of taking anybody’s land but if anybody eyes our land, we will be strong enough to teach them a lesson. A recent study of the Harvard Kennedy School has reported that India is more powerful than China in mountain region warfare. We have proved this fact in the Galwan Valley. China may be a bigger country, but India is capable enough to teach them a lesson if attacked.

Our army, air force and navy will act whenever and wherever the situation demands and show the enemy our strength. The government is already busy diplomatically to have the world on our side. China is already in isolation after coronavirus and this is the ideal time to have a global voice against its expansionist policies. It is believed that corona was deliberately created by China to make other countries weak. China cannot be trusted, and the world believes that. At this moment, each one of us should fight against China by boycotting Chinese goods. India is a big market for China, and we should bite China where it pains the most by waging an economic battle against it. The government has already shown its intent to minimise Chinese imports and their investment in India. Last but not the least, we must speak in one voice and show China that we are one India, a united India.