The government of India is getting ready to welcome the Chinese premier, Li Keqiang. But the BJP has thrown a spanner into the works requesting external affairs minister Salman Khurshid not to visit Beijing to prepare the ground for Li’s first visit abroad. BJP president Rajnath Singh has demanded that Chinese troops must withdraw from Ladakh until a diplomatic initiative is taken. He has also demanded that the area should be handed over to the Indian Army instead of the ITBP posted there. The area that China has recently infiltrated was under the army till 2010. The government later pulled out its army from the sensitive territory exposing India to grave external threat, Rajnath Singh said.
The political leadership in New Delhi has however marginalized the problem. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that the new Chinese encampment in areas of Ladhak is a localized matter. Although Defence Minister A.K. Antony had earlier said that action was being taken to protect India’s interest, he subsequently moderated his stand indicating that negotiations were on to find a peaceful solution. Salman Khurshid has reiterated his decision to go to Beijing on May 9 to pave the way for Li’s visit. One thing should be clear. Political and economic considerations make a renewal of the tension of 1962 inadvisable. China’s new premier’s decision to make India his first destination on his itinerary sends a message to India and Manmohan Singh is likely to return the visit soon. President Xi Jinping has also hinted that a rational solution of the border problem should be worked out as soon as possible. True, China has forced a whole lot of issues along the Line of Actual Control (LoAC) out in the open. Nevertheless, Xi’s stress on a rational solution should not be underrated. The BJP’s hawkish attitude is obviously designed to whip up public hysteria in India.