The People Liberation Army of China has been following a consistent policy of transgressing into Indian territory — more particularly in the western and eastern sector since 2008-09 to serve their strategic interest of protecting its Xinjiang and Tibet from external aggression. Disclosing this, the former special director of the Intelligence Bureau R.N. Ravi told this newspaper that internal assessment of the government agencies have estimated a lose of nearly 2,000 sq km area of Indian territory to China. Asserting that India has been following the policy of “living in denial” since the Nehru days, Mr Ravi said that China has also succeeded in its objective of keeping its border with India undefined for strategic reason of capturing more Indian territory of its geopolitical interests. Pointing out that China has transgressed over 10 km within Indian territory in the North sub-sector of the western sector of the Indo-China border, Mr Ravi said: “It has also escalated aggression in the eastern subsector along the tri-junction with Burma in Tatu Bowl-Dichu area in Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh.” Claiming that Chinese aggression is visible more since 2008-09, Mr Ravi, who was dealing with the affairs of Indo-China border for 20 years said: “India was losing its land constantly to China but government was not sharing the truth.” Though, Shyam Saran committee visited to assess the situation, Mr Ravi said: “Indian citizens of Ladakh are also losing their economy due to aggression of China. This is what I have seen for myself in a recent visit this year to border villages of Ladakh. All these ground realities are kept under the carpet deliberately.” Narrating the developments along Indo-China border, Mr Ravi said: “Since 2009 Chinese Army intruded into our territory in the eastern sector over 100 times. In 2011 alone, they breached the LAC over 125 times.” The China has escalated its aggression in the eastern sector tri-junction which falls along the flow of Lohit river as it enters from Tibet and joined by two tributaries — Dichu and Wach Chu. The Lohit river flows into India at this point through a gap in a mountain which is known as Madan Ridge. At this point Madan Ridge forks into two spur. Pointing out that the McMahon Line is along the northern spur but the Chinese have built a road, in 2009-2010, up to the base of the southern spur, way within the Indian territory, Mr Ravi said: “India has also stopped sending its patrol up to Dichu river since 2009 silently.” Regretting that China built a 20 km motorable road along Jeevan Nallah in 2010 and 15 km long motorable road along Raki Nallah from JAK II to GR 626516 in 2011 — both on the Indian side in the Depsang Plain — Mr Ravi said that even smaller nation like Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines and Brunei have been challenging China’s territorial hegemony but not India. Admitting that Chinese became more aggressive to fortify its volatile Uighurs population of Xinjiang province from any external aggression, Mr Ravi said that China was also not comfortable with the activities of Tibetans in exile. Apart from aggression along the border, China has also started taking interest in the insurgency of northeastern states flourishing from Burma, he said adding that the obvious objective is to mount pressure on India.
