Incursions in Ladakh, a prelude a coming war with China, says analyst Bharat Verma

Defence Analyst Capt. (Retd). Bharat Verma said here today that the continuous probing by Chinese troops would eventually lead to a India -China war in the near future. He commented here today on reports of intrusions by Chinese troops into Indian territory in Eastern Ladakh, who held banners demanding that India should leave the "occupied" areas.

Last week an incident of incursion was reported when the Chinese troops had crossed the Line of Actual Control, resulting in a two-day face-off between the troops from both sides. Though no casualty was reported and the Chinese troops retreated on July 18 to restore normalcy in the area, the incident grabbed Indian attention as the government announced that 40,000 additional troops would be positioned in the area.

"The Chinese on one hand politically keep saying that they don't agree with what PLA is saying. They tell that to the government and the world to put India to sleep. On the other hand, they keep probing attacks by incursions, trying to extract maximum territorial concessions from India. However, this is a prelude to a coming war with China", said Verma today.

Verma also said that the Chinese strategy has chosen the present time to provoke India because they are aware that New Delhi is not prepared. He further said that the Chinese are also aware that India might have a "no-nonsense" government from the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and considerably increase their military strength in the coming years to counter China. As a result, Verma said, the present time makes India a "soft-target" which is vulnerable right now.

"China can attack India across the borders and there is a clear calculation in (the) Chinese mind that if India becomes militarily very strong in the next few years, it will lose this window of opportunity. At present, the Government of India led by Dr. Manmohan Singh is too weak, is in too much of crisis, is too confused. It also appears there's a huge Chinese lobby within the Government of India and within India, which stops government of India from taking any action against the Chinese", Verma said.

Earlier in the day even Communist Part of India (CPI) leader D. Raja commented on Chinese incursions and said that the India -China relations are moving forward but India needs to take up the issue strongly with the leadership of China.

"There should not be any provocative action from the Chinese army. There is forward movement. India should take up this issue with the leadership of China. India should register its strong protest with the Chinese leadership if the incidents are recurring and provoking", Raja said.

Today's incursion was reported to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Ministry of Defence and Ministry of External Affairs. The Indian authorities, it has been disclosed, have sought a meeting with Chinese officials including the area commanders at Spanggur Gap.