India Defence: Perils of ‘Mutually Acceptable’ Transgressions on McMahon Line
A statement on October 22 by Indo Tibetan Border Police [ITBP] Director General Kapur raised a storm. When speaking at a function in Alwar in Rajasthan, he said, “Our newly raised Shaurya commandos are doing great work. Recently, a situation arose where a face-off took place at several locations in Arunachal and is still ongoing. There, our Shaurya Commando teams played an exemplary role.” This is the first official word on how widespread friction has escalated since July. It is unclear if the ITBP Director General’s statement was approved by the Government or had been to emphasise the operational effectiveness of the force on the India China Line of Actual Control and the McMahon Line.
In response to the statement by the ITBP DG, Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs said, “As we have noted in the past, the situation in the India-China border areas gets disturbed from time to time when Chinese forces diverge from established patrolling patterns. Both sides continue to use existing diplomatic and military mechanisms to resolve outstanding issues and avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation along the Line of Actual Control. The two sides have also agreed to discuss ways to improve understanding of LAC in appropriate areas for better border management. I would also like to emphasize that the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas is essential for the overall development of bilateral relations”.
A week after ITBP Director General Shatrujeet Kapur flagged a “face-off” with the Chinese PLA at “several locations” in Arunachal Pradesh, state Chief Minister Pema Khandu said on October 29 that “transgressions” keep happening along the frontier since China does not recognise the McMahon Line while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the International Tourism Mart in Tawang. Mr Khandu said, “No doubt transgression has happened. It keeps happening. It is nothing new since the border is not defined. The situation is quite normal now and our Armed Forces are guarding the border very well.” “China doesn’t consider the McMahon Line in Arunachal and since the state shares a very long border with Tibet, China, sometimes patrolling parties transgress. Our soldiers go (to) that side, their patrolling parties also come (to) this side sometimes,” he added.
The most recent standoffs have been at Asaphila, close to Taksing in Arunachal Pradesh where Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) personnel set up tents on higher ground, 6 km to 7 km from where India believes the McMahon Line runs, near the Maja company operating base in Taksing circle, Upper Subansiri district.
This comes against the backdrop of the bilateral summit with President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit from September 11 to 13,. On August 6, the 36th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs was held. On August 26, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval represented India at the 25th round of Special Representatives’ talks on the Boundary Question in Beijing. On September 6, Indian and Chinese armies held their first Corps Commander-level meeting in the Eastern Sector at the Vacha-Damai Border Personnel Meeting Point in Arunachal Pradesh.
If transgressions on the LAC/ML are seen as the new normal as the Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister seemed to suggest, this model of assertion of claims by both sides raises concerns of a future escalation as that which happened at Galwan in 2020 leading to multiple casualties on both sides.
Transgression is defined as an infringement of the border in select areas and if the response to the same is a violation by the other side, this denotes hostility. While India and China have several mechanisms of confidence building and sustaining peace and tranquility on the border, the issue of transgressions needs to be discussed and mutually acceptable alternate procedures which prevent such violations should be evolved to avoid possible clashes.
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