Indian military called in to help flood-hit north-east

Air force helicopters and soldiers in rubber dinghies helped deliver fresh water and food to flood victims in northeast India on Tuesday as the number of displaced rose to 1.8 million.
6:36PM BST 25 Sep 2012
Nineteen of 27 districts in the state of Assam have been hit by floods and 13 people have been killed over the past week, according to the latest figures from the local disaster management authority.
The remote and impoverished state, which was rocked by ethnic violence last month, has been flooded three times this year by the mighty Brahmaputra River, which often breaks its banks during the monsoon season.
"We have called in the army to assist civil authorities in rescue operations in several parts of the state where people are trapped with floodwaters entering their homes," Assam's Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Prithibi Majhi told AFP. Thousands of people in Majuli, a densely populated river island about 220 miles from Assam's main city of Guwahati, have fled to higher ground or are crowded onto embankments.
An air force helicopter, flying missions in between rain storms, was seen dropping packets of rice, water, biscuits and baby food on one embankment, sparking a scramble among young and old.
We just had enough time to pick up some clothes and drinking water bottles before we got onto a boat to reach a highland some distance away," elderly local Bhabani Pegu told the News Live channel.
"There was a breach in the dyke and soon water swept through the village before anybody could react."
Rain is continuing to pound Assam and adjoining Arunachal Pradesh state, where the Brahmaputra flows into India from its starting point in bordering Tibet. The number of displaced people stood at 1.5 million on Monday.
According to the Central Water Commission, the river was flowing above the danger level in at least 10 places in Assam and still rising.
A government relief effort is gathering pace to help the stranded and displaced, but is being hampered by the bad weather.
"We have opened more than 3,000 makeshift camps so far across the state," Assam Agriculture Minister Nilamoni Sen Deka told AFP.
"The actual damage caused to standing crops is yet to be assessed, but going by the magnitude it appears the loss would be tremendous."
Floodwaters have also submerged the internationally famous 166-square-mile Kaziranga National Park in eastern Assam, home to the world's largest concentration of endangered one-horned rhinos.
"Almost the entire park is under water with animals fleeing the sanctuary to safer areas," a park ranger said, requesting not to be named.
Authorities are asking truckers and other drivers on a nearby national highway to drive at less than 40 kilometres an hour to reduce the risks for wildlife fleeing the floods.
The Brahmaputra has flooded twice already this year, in June and in August, an official in the local weather office told AFP.
Indian military called in to help flood-hit north-east

Indian Army’s unpaid spy dies in oblivion

SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE Wednesday, May 30, 2012, Chandigarh, India
British-born Sydney Wignall discovered the secrets of China’s expansion across Tibet to the borders of India and Nepal

Sadly, New Delhi has ignored the death of Cheshire-born Sydney Wignall who died a few weeks ago in the UK at the age of 89. A British-born hero and unpaid spy of the Indian Army, he used both brains and brawn to discover the secrets of China’s expansion across Tibet to the borders of India and Nepal.
Wignall suffered frost bite, dysentery and regular beatings at the hands of Chinese army guards during his two-month incarceration in a rat-infested prison in Tibet. After his release, he received profuse thanks from his Indian Army contacts for the valuable data he obtained. But the only ‘reward’ he claimed and obtained was a supply of cricket bats and balls for the children of a Nepalese village school that he visited on his way to Tibet.
In 1955, seven years before the Indian Army’s disastrous rout at the hands of Chinese forces, Cheshire-born Sydney Wignall was inspired to lead a Welsh Himalayan Expedition to try and climb the 25,355-foot-high Gurla Mandhata peak in Western Tibet.
Sponsored by the Liverpool Daily Post newspaper and Life magazine, the ostensible objective of the team was to place the flags of Wales and the Chinese Republic on the Gurla Mandhata summit.
Unbeknown to his fellow climbers, however, Wignall had also agreed to gather information for the Indian Army intelligence worried about China’s secret military build up in what was then the autonomous region of Tibet.
Although he and his fellow climber John Harrop, together with their Nepalese liaison officer Damodar Narayan Suwal, were captured soon after they crossed the ill-defined Nepalese border, the information that Wignall collected was the equivalent of intelligence gold dust.
It was gratefully received and analysed by his Indian Army contact, Lieut-Col ‘Baij’ Mehta, who was later killed during the Chinese invasion of Arunachel Pradesh in 1962. It was passed on to an equally grateful Gen KS Thimayya, who later became India’s Chief of Army Staff. He tried and failed to persuade Jawaharlal Nehru of China’s aggressive intentions.
Tellingly, Wignall subsequently had little time for Indian politicians, especially Krishna Menon, who allowed their communist sympathies to blind them to Beijing’s aim of dominating South Asia.
Wignall had met Menon many years earlier in London in 1940, seven years before Independence, when India’s future defence minister and other fellow left-wing activists toed the Soviet Union’s then policy of avoiding confrontation with Adolph Hitler. Menon called 18-year-old Wignall ‘impertinent’ and Wignall formed the impression that Menon was ‘vain, arrogant and conceited.” He called him ‘A thoroughly detestable man.’
Wignall’s Indian heroes were the likes of Gen Thimayya, Col Mehta and Brig John Dalvi, who, in 1962, had only 2,700 soldiers under his command to resist a Chinese division of 12,000 that swept down on him from the Thagla Ridge in what was then known as the North East Frontier Agency or NEFA.
Brigadier Dalvi’s 7th Brigade, which ran out of ammunition, suffered 90 per cent casualties. Those who survived the immediate onslaught died overnight because they had not been supplied with adequate tents, sleeping bags or warm winter clothing. Brigadier Dalvi himself was captured and tortured. A broken man when he was released, he died a few years later much before his time.
It was while he was preparing for his Himalayan expedition in 1955 that Wignall made contact with a retired Indian Army officer, one Lieut-Col Toby Tobin, who was then the vice-president of the Himalayan Club and editor of the Himalayan Journal. Tobin told him, “You might be able to do some friends a favour” before introducing him to a contact called ‘Singh’ at the Indian High Commission in London.
What followed thereafter was like something out of a John Buchan novel. Singh briefed Wignall about the bellicose statements that some Chinese generals had been making about territorial claims to large parts of Northern India, Nepal, Sikkim and Burma. For that reason the Indian military authorities were interested in rumours of China’s intention of building a military highway in west Tibet, close to the sacred lake of Mansarowar.
“You happen to be the only one visiting what to us is the most sensitive area in the whole border region,” Singh explained. “From a vantage point on the north-west ridge of Gurla Mandhata you would be able to see, with a telescope, any sign of a military encampment in that area, and you could look for evidence of the building of that military highway to west Tibet.”
Supplied with maps provided by the British War office, Wignall and his team soon embarked on their 6,500-mile trip from London to the borders of India, Nepal and Tibet. Within days of crossing into Tibet from the Khatang Pass, however, the three lead members of the team were arrested for illegally crossing into Chinese territory.
For the next two months they were held in freezing, rat-infested rooms and interrogated by a team led by Gen Chang Kuo-hua, the military commander of Tibet. These were hard-line party supporters, very different from the likes of 21st century Chinese communist VIPS like millionaire Bo Xilai who had his son Bo Guagua educated at Harrow, Oxford and Harvard.
General Chang was made of much sterner stuff. His minions beat up and abused the British mountaineers, subjecting them to mock executions and telling them, “You intended disguising your illegal armed invasion of China so that the Tibetans would not know you are agents of a foreign power, Western Fascist Lackey Imperial Running Dogs.”
Wignall himself was told, “Sign the confession that you are a Western Fascist Lackey Imperialist Running Dog of the American CIA and we will be very good to you. Otherwise you will be severely punished.”
Although they were under close surveillance during their captivity, Wignall and his friends were able to extract vital information, both from their interrogators and from some of the more friendly guards.
In what was then the pre-satellite age, Wignall managed to accurately estimate the strength of the secret Chinese army base at Jitkot, 17 miles from Tklakot close to the Nepal border. More importantly he was able to gauge that China’s strategic highway from Lhasa would reach Tklakot within the next two years. And from General Chang he heard how Beijing laid claim to India’s Aksai Chin and NEFA regions, as well as parts of Nepal, Kashmir, all of Sikkim, all of Bhutan and parts of northern Burma.
Much of what Wignall discovered was confirmed and reconfirmed before, during and after the 1962 Chinese invasion of India. He himself neither asked for, nor was given any form of compensation by the authorities in India.
Wignall did brief members of the British Foreign Office about his adventures when he returned to London, but his main satisfaction was extracted from the belief that he had taken high risks for the right reasons. In later years he became an underwater archaeologist, uncovering wrecks in British, Portugese and Panamanian waters. A handful of Indians may still remember both his affection for the country and his perilous exploits in the Himalayas. For them he remains a much-loved friend of Mother India.
Indian Army’s unpaid spy dies in oblivion

Remembering 1962 debacle: Is the Military better prepared?

Ref: Can China repeat its 1962 military humiliation of India?
Comment
IAF101 • 28 minutes ago • parent −
What a "surprise" - a military officer blames the politicians and bureaucrats for failure! Guess we haven't heard that excuse from military officers before!
Who ever loses a conflict is a "Yes Man" general and whoever wins is a "skilled" general right? What convenient logic!
Dealing with the political authority is part and parcel of being a general in a democracy. Blaming X and Y is meaningless because it is not some politician or some bureaucrat whose fate is affected but the entire nation! Just as Nehru takes the ultimate blame for failure, the Indian Army also must accept blame that it was unprepared and over matched by the Chinese military. Individual heroism of a few brave officers means nothing if defeat is the outcome. Even the Nazi had heroic officers who fought for their side but today nobody remembers them because they LOST. It is a fact that some Indian commanders gave bad orders and the Indian military headquarters as a whole was struggling to resupply and move troops to the remote NE while the Chinese were crawling up and down Tibet with ease.
As long as the Indian military does not accept responsibility for defeat, it can never learn the lessons required.
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Will the Dragon swallow Arunachal Pradesh?

CHINA HAS A “BIG PROBLEM" WITH INDIA? By Bhaskar Roy
The government of China appears to extremely upset by a news report in the Indian media that two Mountain Divisions of the Indian army will be deployed in Arunachal Pradesh, and become fully operational by next year.

In response, the China Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ma Zhaoxu cautioned India to address Beijing’s “serious concerns” and not trigger a disturbance in the region “so as to facilitate the healthy development of China-India relations.”

China’s official English language daily, The Global Times (Nov 23) almost questioned the intention of the Indian media report since China's Premier Wen Jiabao was to visit India in three weeks time to celebrate the 60th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The Global Times, a subsidiary of the communist party mouth piece, the Peoples daily, the most authentic official view carrier, reported the views of several Chinese experts to decipher India’s intention. Wang Dehua, an expert on India at the Shaughai International Studies Centre (SICC) was of the opinion that the Indian move was strengthen its hands ahead of the India-China talks on the border scheduled for December 29-30, in Beijing. Sun Shihai, an expert on Asia-Pacific studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) opined that military strength of Arunachal Pradesh showed India’s unwillingness to make any concession during border demarcation talks.

More interestingly, the Global Times, decided to recall that the Chinese Foreign Ministry had “condemned” Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh in October 2009. The newspaper, known for its hard-line nationalist views did not, however, proceed to recall what happened next. Prime Minister Singh visited Arunachal Pradesh, made it clear that there was no dispute over the state, and was invited for a meeting by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao soon after at a conclave in Thailand when the Chinese side sought to cool down matters.

It is surprising that even after six decades of bilateral relations the Chinese establishment has failed to understand how India works. Or is it a ploy to pick up items from India’s independent media to berate India? The Chinese must understand that the Indian government is answerable to Parliament and the people and, hence, decisions like major deployments by even the armed forces have to be transparently conveyed to the people. In China, the people do not matter and the media is controlled by the state and the party as per the respective constitutions.

While the Indian and Chinese leaders have agreed on more than one occasion to avoid confrontation and provocation, work to further improve bilateral relations, and cooperate on a wide range of issues bilaterally, regionally and globally, it is obvious that a section of the powerful Chinese leadership seem determined to queer the pitch. Why else would the Chinese foreign ministry choose to warn India on a non-consequential issue on the eve of the border talks and ahead of Chinese Premier’s visit to India. Why else would the The Global times repeatedly refer to Arunachal Pradesh as ‘Southern Tibet’ over which “China claims sovereignty”.

Historically, there is nothing called Southern Tibet. It is a new concoction being tried over the last two years or so to claim Arunachal Pradesh as Chinese territory. The fact that the 4th Dalai Lama was born in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh does not mean anything. The Dalai Lamas or any other Tibetan Living Buddhas can be born anywhere in the world.

Reading recent Chinese official media reports and studies in reputed official journals, there is every reason to believe there is a split in China’s top most hierarchy on foreign policy. Following global reactions to its assertive behaviour with neighbours, the party central committee appears to have laid down a policy of restraint but adhering to the country’s already stated position. Yet, there are strong indications that a section aligned with the army is determined to demonstrate and project power outside the country.

President and Party General Secretary Hu Jintao does not seem to be in a position to fully restrain the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which holds a major say in the affairs of security, neighbours and the USA. A conservative in many ways, Hu Jiantao had to rely on the PLA to buttress his position and give way to them even if he does not want to do so. Deng Xiaoping was the last Chinese leader to control the PLA .

A brief review of statements from the Chinese foreign ministry on India in the last two years suggest an unfriendly hard-line. This is something different from the decade of the 1990s when, in the aftermath of the Tienanmen Square incident, India was one on the few countries of substance which protected China from the Western onslaught on the human rights issue and outside intervence in the internal affairs of a sovereign country. The Chinese foreign ministry then was more friendly. In contrast, as Chinese grew stronger economically and militarily in the last decade it formulated a new strategy with Pakistan to chip away at India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The latest in these examples are issuing stapled visas to anyone who resided in Kashmir, projecting Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) as Pakistan’s sovereign territory and Indian Kashmir as disputed territory, and trying to raise a new debate that the Kashmir issue is a trilateral question between India, Pakistan and China.

China is trying to convince India that these are small issues not to be bothered about, but cooperate on larger issues including climate change and currency values against the west. While the two largest countries of Asia must cooperate and work together for common cause, the region’s development and making the 21st Century for Asia, China’s behaviour does not inspire confidence. India experimented on joint bidding for oil and gas resources with China, but woke up one morning to see China had sabotaged India literally at midnight.

Geography forces the two countries to work together and raise mutual trust. Till now, however, China has given no evidence to India that it can be trusted. If it thinks India will conspire with the US to counter China, it must see India’s policy on Iran and Myanmar post-Obama visit. People outside the government in India, save for the ardent sinophiles, are beginning to think there is a too much double-speak from China. Beijing must also realise that despite their huge nuclear and asymmetric warfare superiority over India, it is no longer 1962. China will be welcome if it truly demonstrates it is a development cooperative partner. This has not happened yet.

When Premier Wen Jiabao makes his official visit to India in mid-December, he will come as a lame duck premier. He lost a lot of political clout when he called for greater democracy to consolidate China economic gains. But the party plenum in October smothered his voice. He was subsumed by the hardliners, and he will spend his next two years in position as only echoing laid down policies.

Much cannot be expected from Wen Jiabo’s visit. He will read from the Beijing script in both India and Pakistan. But the Indian government must use this opportunity to deliver India’s concerns and position without pulling the punches. It is time India tells China what are the ‘big issues” and “small issues” for India.
Bhaskar Roy is an experienced China analyst.
CHINA HAS A “BIG PROBLEM" WITH INDIA?

Can we safeguard our Territorial Integrity?

1962 redux?
The Asian Age Oct 19th, 2010
All wars commence in the mind, and escalate with words. “Zhang Nan” or “Southern Tibet”, the designation bestowed by the People’s Republic of China on India’s state of Arunachal Pradesh bordering Tibet, is one such example. China now claims Arunachal Pradesh as its historic territory comprising the three southern districts of the Tawang Tract unilaterally acquired by the then British Empire after the Treaty of Simla in 1913. New demands, which were first articulated around 2005, initially concerned Tawang as a traditional tributary region of Lhasa, being the birthplace of the Sixth Dalai Lama (Tsangyang Gyatso, enthroned 1697, probably murdered 1706 by Mongol guards who were escorting him to Beijing under arrest). Subsequently, a day prior to the visit of China’s President Hu Jintao to India in 2006, Sun Yuxi, the then Chinese ambassador to India, stridently reiterated in public China’s claims to the entire state of Arunachal Pradesh in a deliberately provocative gesture designed to put New Delhi on notice of Beijing’s intention to dominate the agenda of interaction according to its own priorities. In a longer-term perspective, these needlessly provocative claims could escalate to a flash point with the potential to provoke a major confrontation between the two countries, and create an existential crisis for the entire region, a contingency for which India has to prepare itself adequately.
Indian reaction has been characteristically muted, constantly choosing to soft pedal and play down the issue — a unilateral gesture of restraint regardless of the degree of blatant provocation, which exasperated many in this country. It is seen as making a virtue out of necessity, because India has neglected to build up the requisite capabilities to adopt stronger alternatives. This is surely an unenviable position for a country seeking to promote itself as a major power for a permanent seat on the Security Council.
The present Sino-Indian equation is almost irresistibly reminiscent of the run-up to the Sino-Indian border war of 1962, and provides a fascinating playback of China’s postures at that time with its disconcertingly similar sequence of claims along the McMahon Line in North East Frontier Agency (Nefa), as well as along the Uttar Pradesh-Tibet border and in Ladakh, as relics of historic injustices perpetrated in earlier days by British imperialists. A naive and militarily ill-prepared India, with an exaggerated self image of its own international relevance as a leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, had sought to dissuade a determined China with platitudinous Nehruvian philosophies of anti-colonial solidarity, all of which were contemptuously disposed of by “a whiff of grapeshot” on the desolate slopes of the Namkha Chu and Rezang La. India’s collapse and comprehensive downsizing in short order in 1962 was primarily because it lacked military capability vis-a-vis China, a fatal flaw which has a disconcerting tendency of repeating itself when lessons of earlier debacles wear off from the country, as they seem to be doing now. “1962 redux” is slowly grinding into gear again, with end results unforeseeable, except that an enhanced replay at some stage (2020?) can never be totally discounted. India must not repeat its follies of the past because this time around it has been adequately forewarned.
Gen. Shankar Roychowdhury is a former Chief of Army Staff and a former Member of Parliament.
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Indian Express by C. Raja Mohan Posted: Sat Sep 18 2010, 02:53 hrs
Having squandered some of the best years in the history of India’s external relations, the UPA government’s defence policy is now condemned to deal with some of the worst. Through much of its first term in government, the UPA had a relatively peaceful Jammu and Kashmir, a ceasefire on the borders with Pakistan, a measure of stability in Afghanistan, tranquil borders with China, and improving relations with all the major powers.

That was the moment to undertake some comprehensive defence sector reforms, do the groundwork for rapid military modernisation, alter the internal dynamics of Kashmir, and catch up with China’s rising power potential.

Sadly, the UPA government did not. It now confronts the prospect of the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, a breakdown in the peace process with Pakistan, a stalled boundary negotiation with China, internal turbulence in Kashmir, China’s questioning of India’s sovereignty over J&K, and deepening Sino-Pak cooperation across the board, including in Jammu and Kashmir.

Meanwhile, the government’s hand-wringing in face of a crisis in Kashmir and the serious internal discord in the Congress party raise questions about the political will of the Indian state under the UPA government. It will be no surprise if India’s adversaries want to take advantage of widely perceived fecklessness in Delhi.
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People's Liberation Army
China's military which, unlike most military organisations, also shapes (its) foreign policy, has begun to exert an increasing influence over policy decisions. Yet, Indian officials say they have few avenues to engage with the PLA, and warn that a lack of understanding over the PLA's strategic intentions has become an increasing source of mistrust in the relationship.
The PLA is unlike any other military organisation. It is not apolitical – it has an influential political department that also comes up with policies, though is secretive about its functions. It also exists outside the purview of the government, serving the Communist Party and not the State. The PLA has been “an official foreign policy actor” throughout the history of the People's Republic of China, according to Linda Jakobson of the Stockholm.
India to engage China's military as influence expands
Can our Bureaucratic Foreign Policy makers match or stall PLA's aggressive March?

Lt Gen Nathu Singh's Appreciation of Land Forces for Defence of India in 1948

From: vinay singh
Sent: 14 September 2010 09:58
Subject: GEN NATHU SINGH
Dear Brigadier Kamboj,
Thank you for posting Sarojini Naidu’s letter to Nathu Singh. Here is something else on the same lines, which is as relevant today as it was then. In January 1948, soon after taking over as GOC UP Area in Lucknow, Gen Nathu Singh wrote an Appreciation on the Defence of India, and forwarded it to Army HQ. He was greatly perturbed by a directive issued from the office of the C-in-C, which sought to reduce the size of the Regular Army to 150,000 - during World War II, it had risen to 2.5 million - with an annual budget allocation of 45 crore rupees for the next three years.

In the preamble, he wrote:
"We as soldiers must approach our leaders and submit our minimum requirements and make it clear that if funds are not provided for such a force, the responsibility will be upon them. A soldier is but a servant of the State. He must however, point out any weaknesses in the defensive structure of the country with all the emphasis at his command. In order to arrive at a correct appreciation, we must consider both military and allied factors and not be swayed by any notions of idealism or allow political considerations to affect our judgment...
A NEWLY CREATED NATION WHICH HAS ONLY JUST THROWN OFF HER BONDAGE OF FOREIGN RULE OF 200 YEARS AND MORE CANNOT RISK A REVERSE ALMOST AT HER REBIRTH.
...We must NOT decide on the size of our Defence Service on what we can financially afford but on what we need in the form of a Modern Defence based on the following considerations:
(a) What is the strength and armament of present and potential enemies of India?
(b) What is the force required by India to meet this threat
(c) What will be the cost of maintaining such a force?
(d) What is the maximum amount the country can afford to pay for its Defence Forces?
(e) To arrive at a compromise between (b), (c) and (do above, consistent with the safety of our land.
Keeping the above in view, the Land Forces which India should maintain are given in the enclosed appreciation. They are only my first thoughts."

Nathu Singh proceeded to list out the frame work of the Indian Army, for the future. By present standards, he was extremely conservative - he asked for one corps headquarters, one armoured division, two infantry divisions, one parachute brigade, one armoured brigade, and the associated complement of Artillery, Engineers and Signals. The number of infantry battalions was only 28. However, he advocated a large complement of territorial army, which would provide the second line of defence, and boost the resources of the regular army, during war.
In April 1948, Nathu Singh was promoted to the rank of Lt Gen and appointed GOC-in-C Eastern Command, at Ranchi. He continued his efforts to convince the political and military leadership of the necessity of maintaining a strong Army. When asked for a run-down of the Army, he wrote to Army HQ on 24 October 1950:
"...The situation facing the country from the military point of view is today virtually the same if not worse because, although Pakistan outwardly appears to be fraternising with our country, recent speeches of their leaders leave no room for doubt that they are preparing for a show-down with our country over the KASHMIR issue.
...Communist China's complete success over the KUOMINTANG and the establishment of the Peoples' Government, their recent activities, their declared policy towards liberation of Tibet, and the recent Mission from the latter country clearly indicate the writing on the wall. The Communist menace is gradually spreading towards the very borders of India.
...To ensure the security of our borders and our State, the Defence service ratio between INDIA and PAKISTAN should be two to one . If this is reduced, we will be laying our country open to an ever present danger of a major war."

Nathu Singh's remarks, especially with reference to Pakistan and China, display an insight of international affairs which very few Indians had, at that time. Even Nehru, who orchestrated India's foreign policy for almost two decades following Independence, failed to grasp the nuances which Nathu Singh had perceived. As a result, the Defence Forces were neglected, with disastrous results in 1962. An intimate knowledge of military affairs is important for those who decide the fate of peoples, and nations. Among his contemporaries, such as Churchill, Stalin, Chiang Kai Shek, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Tito, and Nasser, Nehru was one of the few who had never worn an uniform.

This applies even to our present day political masters. Not one of our Prime Ministers or Defence Ministers, from 1947 till now, has ever worn an uniform.
Maj Gen VK Singh

Readers Remember Lt Gen Nathu Singh

References and earlier posts:

Gen Nathu Singh & AFSPA: Readers Views

Lt Gen Nathu Singh: Courage and Candour has few equals or parallels

Lt Gen Nathu Singh's short bio- data by Maj Gen VK Singh

Dear Brigadier Kamboj,
I am attaching two photos of Gen Nathu Singh
Regards
VK Singh (Maj Gen VK Singh)

From: Sureshwar Sinha
Sent: 07 September 2010 10:40
To: Kamboj Chander
Subject: GEN NATHU SINGH … edited …
Dear Brigadier Kamboj,
Having read the above messages, I could not resist mentioning the interview General Thakur Nathu Singh gave me for my book, 'Sailing and Soldiering in Defence of India'. Earlier we had had many informal chats, as his son the late Rear Admiral R.V. Singh, {who was my course mate in the 2nd JSW now N.D.A. course}, along with another course mate, Captain R.N.Singh, had brought back a Land Rover from London for the General, by driving it all the way to Delhi. Though the vehicle was in pretty bad shape after the trip, the General did'nt bat an eye lid, and simply said that he was glad we had a nice and adventurous trip.
Coming back to my formal interview with him. It is well known that he was favoured by Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck to be the first Indian Army Chief and had made his recommendation accordingly. But in converstions with the then DM, Sardar Baldev Singh and the PM Mr. Nehru, Gen. Nathu Singh had said that it might not be fair to supersede General Cariappa. He was still young and could have been a Chief later, but his frank and honestly argumentative nature was not liked by his political bosses.
He recalled that at the time of the Chinese invasion of Tibet, he was the GOC-in-C of the Eastern Command, and had suggested that to the powers that be that one of his brigades could hold up the Chinese at the fort of Chamdo, whilst two more in reserve, could have prevented any breakthrough by them, as forces available to them then were far less in those days. But he was ignored. Our history and present security scenario would have been far different had he been listened to
As regards Kashmir, we had a first hand account of events from General Thymayya, when after relinquishing command in Kashmir, he came as our Commandant of the integrated academy, composed of the Military Wing {IMA} and the JSW.
But have we learnt the lessons even today?
Cmdr SD Sinha {Retd)

From: Yati Panwar
Sent: 07 September 2010 01:51
To: Kamboj Chander
Subject: Re: ON GEN NATHU SINGH
Dear Brig Kamboj,
Many mails are coming in talking about Gen Nathu Singh. I have never met the gentleman in real life but gleaned a lot about his towering personality from his ACR's (dating back to 1920's) that are preserved in the Archives of the MS Branch. I glanced through those captivating accounts while reorganising the archives in 1995. I do not recollect the exact contents but the British Officers were rather piercing in their description of him - they were certainly as much in awe of him as they were unable to see him straight in the eye.
Perhaps (...) one may be asked to revisit the MS Archive to retrieve the contents for the benefit of all of us- i am sure they would be as much revealing as they would be inspirational.
Best regards,
Yati Panwar
Lt Gen YS Panwar, Former Commandant MCTE

From: Krishan K Punchhi
To: vinod pasricha
Sent: Tue, September 7, 2010 10:13:05 PM
Subject: Re: Gen Nathu Singh
Dear Pasha,
I'm glad you sent your mail to me. I was just wondering whether I should share my thoughts with others and now I will. This mail will eventually be copied to all my friends. I'm glad you want to include the reference to Lt Gen Thakur Nathu Singh in the book you are writing about Indian Navy's 300 Sqn.
Yes, our friend and colleague, Ranvijay Singh, was the second son of Lt Gen Thakur Nathu Singh. This is the first time that I too have heard of their surname Rathore. RV or Ranu was 2 JSW and I belong to 7 JSW.
I first came to know about Lt Gen Thakur Nathu Singh when we were told that he was going to take the salute at the passing out parade at JSW. I have taken part in four parades, 4JSW to my own 7JSW. Sh. Surjit Singh Majithia took our salute. So, Thakur Saheb must have taken the salute of 4th, 5th or 6th course. This happened in mid fifties and I hope my memory is not playing tricks with me. I also remember that he had a religious scripture ( Bhagvat Gita? ) in his hand and he read out and translated a shloka out of it. That is how he ended his lecture. This was most unusual. Here was a high ranking officer who was not fully anglicised, who valued and cherished Indian philosophy.
When I joined the Seahawk Sqn in the UK, RV was already there and so was Kumud, his wife. Kumud Bhabhi was a very fine and gentle lady and it was a pleasure interacting with both of them. That is when I came to learn that RV's father was that famous Thakur Nathu Singh. Later on when RV became the Sqn Cdr and we all embarked on VIKRANT, Kumud Bhabi took all the wives under her wings and really looked after them. Indu, my newly married wife, received special attention.
Years later, I think it was in Delhi that RV held a dinner party to which we were also invited. That is where I had the proud privilege of meeting the General. I think the elder son was also there. We all found him to be a grand old man, down to earth with no airs, very proud of his sons and very nice to all of their friends. During the talks, we learnt about Ranu's naval trg in the UK and his jeep trip back to India. Gen sahib wanted a brand new jeep and sent the money to his son. He bought the jeep and, as agreed to, he drove it back to India. Another friend and course mate ( Gokhale? ) was with him. Somewhere in the Middle East, the jeep went out of control and rolled over. Luckily, no one was hurt and the jeep was drive-able. So, they continued and entered Pakistan. There they were stopped and questioned. Once their identity was established, the MP pilot jeep and outriders were lined up. Thakur Nathu Singh had requested his old friend Gen Ayub (?) to look after RV and ensure he had no problems in Pakistan. So, a battered jeep was piloted and escorted like a VIP vehicle and came to Wagah in grand style. In that party, there was much lighthearted banter about RV's driving prowess.
We had to leave the party early as our very small son was alone at home under ayah's supervision. The general made it a point to come to the main door and see us off with all the love and affection that you show to a son and bahu. That family was full of decent sanskars. It is a pity that Kumud bhabhi and RV are no more. edited...
I close with best wishes and kind regards ...mac.
Cdr KK Punchhi
President Indian Navy Foundation, Canada

From: MG Kapoor
Sent: 07 September 2010 01:32
To: Kamboj Chander
Subject: Re: ON GEN NATHU SINGH
Dear Brig Kamboj Sir,
I have read with great attention officer's tributes to Gen Nathu Singh. It really fills one with pride that our great Indian Army can boast of having such great Generals. It was very satisfying.
I have a suggestion. We do have many more great leaders of whom the present generation may know very little but nonetheless they need be remembered. Why not to start similar tributes to such great leaders? Amongst others, one such leader who comes to my mind is great Lt General Bikram Singh. Others are Lt General Kulwant Singh, Lt General PS Bhagat, Lt Gen Harbux Singh, Marshal of the Air Force Arjun Singh, and so on and so forth. Such like tributes to them would kindle the flame of patriotism amongst us all and in particular the present generation of the armed forces who are the pillars of our armed forces in times to come.
With kind regards,
MG Kapoor

Dragon spews fire and India feels the heat

China's threat: India gets serious
Nidhi Razdan,
August 31, 2010 22:07 IST
New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) met in New Delhi on Tuesday where top ministers and the PM discussed about the recent tension with China. India's envoy to Beijing S Jaishankar has also been called to give his inputs.

There was consensus to act tough with the Chinese and show a firmness in approach while dealing with them.

Earlier, a top Indian Army General was denied permission to visit China because he serves in what they call a "sensitive" state like Jammu and Kashmir.

India and China certainly have their differences but this time Indian officials say Beijing has gone too far.

Government sources have told NDTV they are mulling their options and much will depend on what Beijing now signals through a senior defence officer who is expected to come here soon.

The latest worry for New Delhi are reports that 7,000 to 11,000 Chinese troops are here in Gilgit in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), which the government is trying to verify. Some experts say that a more aggressive China needs a stronger response from India.

"This is very serious, for the first time they have belatedly questioned the status of Jammu and Kashmir. We need to take strong political steps like stapling the visas of Tibetans and stressing on Tibet as an autonomous part of China not a militarised one as it is now," said Kanwal Sibal, former Foreign Secretary.

India's China challenge
China refuses to stamp the passports of Indians from Jammu and Kashmir instead giving them stapled visas on separate sheets of paper. Despite repeated protests by New Delhi for two years now the practice still goes on.
Since they see Arunachal as a part of China, Beijing often denies visas to those from Arunachal saying they are from the same country!
In 2007, a study tour to Beijing of over 100 IAS officers was cancelled after China refused to give a visa to an officer from Arunachal Pradesh even former Chief Minister Gegong Apang was not given a visa for the same reason.
The Chinese have also angrily protested a meeting between the Dalai Lama and the PM earlier this month and even criticised the PM's visit to Arunachal evoking an angry reaction from Delhi.

For now New Delhi is waiting and watching to see what Beijing signals but the shift in the public Chinese stance on Jammu and Kashmir has South Block officials very worried and they know they need to find a new way to deal with the problem.
China's threat: India gets serious by Nidhi Razdan

National Security: Chinese Rail to link Pakistan

PTI, Jul 7, 2010, 02.09pm IST
NEW DELHI: India today expressed "concern" over China's plans to have a rail link with Pakistan through the Karakoram ranges, but said it was doing its own preparations to counter such a move.

"It is definitely a matter of concern. But we are taking our counter measures and we are doing our own preparation," Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju told reporters here.

He was responding to a question on the Chinese plans to build the rail link to Pakistan and reach the Arabian Sea via Gilgit-Baltistan region in Pak-occupied Kashmir.

Raju said both China and Pakistan had made it "very apparent" that they were "working closely together and cooperating closely" on defence and strategic issues.

China has already built a rail line up to the Indian borders along the Tibetan plateau and now the plan is to have the rail link to Pakistan and reach the Arabian Sea.

Media reports had suggested that a Memorandum of Understanding for the rail link will be signed between Beijing and Islamabad soon.
Chinese rail link to Pak matter of concern: India

Frightened by a dragon, India shies away from Taiwan

MD Nalapat The National
Last Updated: June 27. 2010 8:50PM UAE / June 27. 2010 4:50PM GMT
The two Asian giants may share a 4,250-kilometre border and trade goods and services in excess of $60 billion every year, but when it comes to slights – perceived and otherwise – Beijing’s memory is elephantine.

India has given sanctuary to the Dalai Lama since 1959 and harbours more than 130,000 Tibetan refugees. In return, China has helped India’s rival Pakistan acquire nuclear weapons and missile systems. It helped block India’s membership in the UN Security Council and fought to the last minute in 2008 to prevent the lifting of restrictions on nuclear trade with India.

It is no wonder then that while there has been only one war between the two nations in 4,000 years (China soundly defeated India in 1962), relations between the two countries have been cool, if not frigid. Beijing believes in an eye-for-an-eye, preferably two – a penchant that drives the hand-wringing, naturally timid Indian establishment slightly crazy.

Nowhere is that fear more evident than in relations between India and Taiwan, a small island that nonetheless boasts an economy more than a third of the size of India, with foreign-exchange reserves double the size of New Delhi’s, at about $400 billion.
Frightened by a dragon, India shies away from Taiwan
China Trade Pact Draws Taiwan Into Economic Embrace June 28, 2010, 9:06 PM EDT By Frederik Balfour

A visa request for Mansarovar

The grand view of Gulra Mandhata, Manasarovar and Ravana Lake hypnotises the onlooker into subliminal aura
While in my mid-twenties, working in 1978-79 for Gammon India Ltd, a construction company renowned for bridge construction in remote areas of India, I was posted for six months to the ADB-funded East-West highway construction project in Nepal, on the portion running from Hetauda to Narayangarh. The complete east-west highway connection was designed to run all the way to Nepalganj, past Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Buddha, across from Gorakhpur district in India. The highway was essentially located along the foothills and plains of Nepal, a simple artillery shot away from the Indian border. For this project, quite a few Chinese bridge and highway contractors secured contracts along various segments of this highway, and some were very close to the Indian border. Though their design standards and construction methods were old-fashioned and traditional (not as high-tech as Gammon’s), and I wondered why the hell was India scared of the Chinese when India possessed the better technology, the troubling feature was their proximity to the Indian border. I saw the Chinese companies first-hand at close quarters; I also witnessed first-hand on a visit to Lumbini how porous the Indo-Nepal border was and how easily the Chinese could slip through into India. I am intuitively quite certain that China infiltrated numerous spies through that route. China found, in a legal way, an opportunity to come close to the Indian border, and has always eyed the Indo-Nepal border for numerous opportunities of intelligence gathering since that time, 30 years ago. I do recall that the Indian government later protested those Chinese camps close to our border, and the Nepalese government responded favorably to our protests. However, the dismantling of those camps took a few years till the Chinese projects were over, because no one could prove the Chinese were doing anything wrong.

I continue to feel today that if there were a full-blown, no-holds barred war between China and India, the Chinese would come through Nepal and Burma, where we are least prepared. Remember, the Chinese wrote the book on the art of war. I might add that in March 1979 (I don't recall that it could be 1978), I rode in on my Java motorcycle into the well-guarded Chinese embassy in Chanakya Puri, where two guards opened the door for me very quickly (with respect) without stopping me. I parked the motorcycle below the stairs to the main entrance, and walked up to the reception asking for a visa to travel to Mansarovar. This I did at a time when China did not grant travel visas for Mansarovar. My father had cautioned me not to do this or anything like even entering the Chinese embassy, trying to emphasize that I would be entering "enemy territory" if I were to go into their embassy compound. Moreover, hardly any Indian nationals ever went into their compound those days, if at all. However, I was adventuresome and somewhat fearless (or foolish) when young, and so I didn’t care much for my father’s advice on this occasion, though I did listen to it and pay heed.
Click here to read the full episode

Dr Amarjit Singh is a professor at the University of Hawaii and Manoa. Expert on Highway Construction Engineering. He also writes on India's national security.
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Dr Amarjit Singh: Personal webpage

Magnetic Hill, Ladakh- India

Bill-Board by Local AdministrationCan anyone ever imagine the movement of a vehicle up a steep mountain, with its ignition off? Sounds quite unbelievable! Well, this magnet magic can be experienced while you are travelling to Leh-Ladakh. And we can say, amid all the Himalayan and colonial wonders, there’s one more wonder coming your way – the Magnetic Hill. The hill, located close to Leh, is known for its wonderful magnetic properties. Once here, you can see for yourself vehicles moving up at a speed of 20 km/ hour with the engines off.
Location of Magnetic Hill
To reach the Magnetic Hill, Ladakh, you need to take the Leh-Kargil-Baltic National Highway. The hill lies at a distance of 30 km from the town of Leh, at an elevation of around 14,000 feet above sea level. To the eastern side of the hill flows the Sindhu river, originating in Tibet. The local administration has also put up a bill board to help tourists recognize the Magnetic Hill. The board clearly states the whole phenomenon. So you can also enjoy a first hand experience as you reach the hill. Place your vehicle on a specific spot on the road with its engines off and you will soon notice the vehicle moving up at a speed of 20 km/hour. You will have the same results over and again as you redo the exercise.
Impact on Helicopters and Aircrafts
Not only vehicle, even helicopters and aircrafts feel the same magnetic impact. Locals and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel claim that the helicopters and aircrafts that pass through the area have to fly at a greater speed to avoid the magnetic impact of the hill. And if the aircraft comes within the radius of Magnetic Hill, it starts to jerk.
Other Attractions Around Magnetic Hill
Apart from the Magnetic Hill, you can also enjoy seeing a few other places that lie at a close distance from the hill. The Himalayan region here is truly worth exploring. Given below are a few attractions that you can see in this region.
Gurudwara Patthar Sahib
It is the auspicious place where Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th guru of the Sikhs, had spent time meditating in the 17th century. Locals, army personnel and tourists can be seen here often. Though not many Sikhs arrive here from different parts of the country, the reason perhaps being its remote location.
Colourful Hills & Mountains
While you are in this Himalayan region, you will also like seeing the hills and mountains. Here, the hills bear different colours. Some are white and snow-laden. Some are black or gray in colours while there are some that are green, red or orange in colour.
The drivers will inform you that Indian Air Force pilots always steer clear of the Magnetic Hill.
Magnetic Hill Ladakh

Dealing With The Dragon: Tawang Monastery the bone of contention?

Let's face it, the recent increased Chinese pressure and posturing on Arunachal Pradesh is real. The response needs to be measured, and not hysterical. Dissuasive deterrence holds the key- Namrata Goswami

The intended visit of the Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh in the second week of November 2009 to inaugurate a hospital in Tawang district, for which he had donated Rs 20 lakh, is raising Chinese ire.

Border Problems
Once again, the picturesque state of Arunachal Pradesh, the historical bone of contention between India and China, is back in news. China claims 90,000 square kilometres of territory from India; the total land area of Arunachal Pradesh is 83,743 sq km.

The incompatibility between India and China has a historical context and is based on a lack of proper demarcation of the 3,500-km border in the eastern sector. China questions the 1914 McMahon line and argues that the area now known as Arunachal Pradesh belonged to Tibet historically, with the Tawang Monastery having tributary relationship with the Dalai Lama. Since Tibet is now a part of China, goes their argument, so is Arunachal Pradesh. The Dalai Lama, on the other hand, agrees with the Indian position and recognizes Arunachal Pradesh as a part of India. The Buddhist monks in the Tawang Monastery also argue strongly against Chinese claims on their land as having no historical basis or legitimacy whatsoever. The Chinese insecurities become apparent when seen in the perspective of revival of protests in Tibet last year, as the status of Tibet itself remains contested by the Tibetans, both within and outside Tibet.

Another major problem regarding the eastern border between India and China is the different perceptions both countries have about the actual physical demarcation of the border. The worrisome aspect for India in this context is that despite more than two decades of negotiations, India is the only country with which China has not settled its border dispute.

The Chinese activities in Tibet itself, with their plans of diverting the Yarlung Tsangpo (the source of the Brahmaputra in India) is another area of grave concern for us. This diversion will have an enormous negative impact on the eco-system and the people of Northeastern India and Bangladesh. The residents of Arunachal Pradesh will be the first to be affected with possible drought and lack of fresh water because of this change of course. The border dispute between India and China could take on the added dimension of water security, seen by many srategic analysts as the most likely source of conflict in the future.
Dealing with the dragon: Tibet and Tawang Monastery

Chinese see India as enemy

Sunday, September 27, 2009, 16:58 IST
London: India is the country that is spoken of most often as an enemy in China, a British newspaper reported on Sunday, but quoted a retired Chinese officer as saying the men serving the People's Liberation Army (PLA) have no "devotion".

"Compared with our last war against India in 1962, our equipment is much better but the devotion to country and people of our officers and men is much worse," the Sunday Times quoted an unnamed retired officer as saying.

In an article on the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic, the paper said the occasion is set to be marked by the "grandest martial parade in the history of modern China", with displays of a new generation of fighters, ballistic missiles, battle tanks and rifles.

"Thursday's parade is certain to provoke an outpouring of virulent nationalism. Curiously, the enemy most often spoken of is India," the paper said.

Censors, otherwise draconian in their grip over Chinese netizens, permit "alarmingly frank discussion" on the Internet on going to war against India over Tibet.

However, the paper said veterans who know the PLA from the inside say that despite all its shiny new kit, such grandiose ideas mask the reality of "a force that has no recent battle experience and is riddled with corruption".

It said insiders speak of a system of bribes ranging from CNY 10,000 (USD 1,400, Rs 70,000) for a good post for a private soldier to CNY 30,000 for a place at military college.

The Sunday Times quoted General Zhang Shutian, a political commissar, saying in a recent address: "If corruption in the army continues, ideology will decay and open the way for religion, while the promotion system risks causing a mutiny."

China's People's Daily newspaper declared on Friday: "We must abide by (former Chinese leader) Deng Xiaoping's instructions that China must be under the leadership of the Communist Party.

"If this fundamental principle is altered, China will go backwards, split and fall into chaos," it warned. IANS
Chinese see India as enemy

India's air power no match for China

September 24, 2009, 00:35 IST Zeenews Bureau
Gandhinagar: The Air Chief Marshal PV Naik on Wednesday admitted that India was no match to China when it came to air power.
"Our present aircraft strength is inadequate. Aircraft strength is one third that of China. The Government of India is doing a lot to augment Air Force capability," Naik said.

Interestingly, former Navy chief Suresh Mehta had also, last month, claimed that India is no match to China when it comes to military strength. He, however, chose to downplay the threat from India’s eastern neighbour amid reported violations of the Indian airspace and territory by Chinese troops.

No imminent threat
Stressing that India must build up its weapons capability to thwart such attempts, Naik said, “There are two ways to look at Chinese incursions. One way is to take up weapons and go to the border. Other way is to build systematic weapons capability to tackle the threat.”

The IAF chief also stressed that there was no imminent threat from the Dragon. He also refuted reports of violation of airspace along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) by the Chinese. “As far as Air Force is concerned there are no Chinese incursions,” he said. Adding that the strategy being adopted by the IAF was to ‘play it cool’ for now.

The IAF Chief’s remarks came a day after China's Ambassador to India, Zhang Yan met Home Secretary GK Pillai and tried to clarify the picture over the reported border incursions. The Chinese Ambassador's meeting came in the wake of repeated assertions by top Indian officials and even the Army Chief that reported incursions in the recent past occurred due to differences in perception of the LAC.

Even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh down played the incursions amid reports about Beijing's unhappiness at the way Chinese border transgressions have been reported in the Indian media to conjure up a China threat.

Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao had also last week stressed that there was "no significant increase" in incursions across all sections of the over 4,000 km border between the two countries.

"Contrary to the popular perception, the situation along the border has remained peaceful for decades," Rao said.

National Security Adviser MK Narayanan and Army Chief Gen Deepak Kapoor had also cautioned against the media hype and stressed that there was nothing alarming about the reported incursions.
India’s air power just 1/3rd of China: IAF

Railway on the Roof of the World

Lhasa Railway Station
Key facts about Qinghai-Tibet Railway
China opened the world's most elevated railroad, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, on Saturday 01 July 2006. Below are some facts about the Qinghai-Tibet Railway:

Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the first railroad linking Tibet with the rest of China.

China has solved three major difficulties, namely frozen tundra, high altitude and plateau environmental protection, to rewrite the world's history of railway construction with the completion of Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the world's highest railway. Some 960 kilometers of its tracks are located 4,000 meters above sea level and the highest point is 5,072 meters, at least 200 meters higher than the Peruvian railway in the Andes, which was formerly the world's most elevated rail. The line has a capacity of eight pairs of passenger trains, and the carriages are specially built and have an oxygen supply for each passenger.

The railway is the world's longest plateau railroad, extending 1,956 kilometers from Qinghai's provincial capital Xining to Lhasa in Tibet. The Golmud-Lhasa section zigzags 1,142 kilometers across the Kunlun and Tanggula mountain ranges.

About 550 kilometers of the tracks run on frozen earth, the longest in any of the world's plateau railways.

Tanggula Railway Station, 5,068 meters above sea level, is the highest railway station in the world.

Fenghuoshan Tunnel, 4,905 meters above sea level, is the world's most elevated tunnel on frozen earth.

Kunlun Mountain Tunnel, running 1,686 meters, is the world's longest plateau tunnel built on frozen earth.

The maximum train speed is designed to reach 100 kilometers per hour in the frozen earth areas and 120 kilometers per hour on non-frozen earth.

About 29.46 billion yuan (3.68 billion U.S. dollars) had been spent on the Golmud-Lhasa section which runs 1,142 kilometers.

The basic coach ticket, called a hard seat, sells for 389 yuan (48.6 U.S. dollars) from Beijing to Lhasa, while the price for hard sleeper or bunk costs 813 yuan (101.6 dollars), and the price for a shared compartment or soft sleeper is 1,262 yuan (157. 75 dollars).
Train to Lhasa- fact sheet
Largest construction project built on permafrost since the Trans-Alaska Pipeline was completed in 1977

India, China must resolve border issues to ensure peace: Krishna

Posted: Saturday , Sep 19, 2009 at 1334 hrs
Istanbul:

For peace to prevail along the Sino-Indian border, all boundary issues need to be resolved in right earnest, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said in an exclusive interview on Friday.

"Thirteen rounds of talks have been held by special representatives representing the Indian Government and the Chinese Government. It is in the larger interest of both, China and India, that these boundary issues will have to be settled so that peace and tranquillity on Indo-China border is maintained," Krishna said.

On the issue of incursions, Krishna said it has been diplomatically taken up with the concerned Chinese authorities.

"We have taken it up diplomatically with the Chinese authorities. I think it can be sorted out," he added.

The Indian media had reported that two soldiers of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) were injured in firing from across the border on the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh, part of which China claims as its territory.

India, however, had denied that two of its border guards were injured in firing by Chinese forces.

China claims about 90,000 square kilometers of Arunachal Pradesh along their border as part of its territory.

India and China fought a short war in 1962 and, despite burgeoning trade in recent years, mistrust remains. Both sides jostle for resources and influence as they seek a global role.

This year, the two countries have faced off at multi-lateral forums, including Chinese objections to a 60 million dollars Asian Development Bank loan for a project in Arunachal Pradesh.
India, China must resolve border issues to ensure peace: Krishna
Related reading
Media hype could create problems with China: NSA
China strikes back on Arunachal