New Delhi: Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan on Monday (March 18) said that China playing the ‘game of checkers’ in India’s backyard will not be in India’s long-term strategic interests.
The CDS made these remarks while delivering the inaugural address in the Strategic and Security Dialogue on ‘Rise of China and Its Implications for the World’ organised by the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies of Savitribai Phule Pune University along with the Centre for China Analysis and Strategy, New Delhi and Centre for Advanced Strategic Studies, the Indian Express reported.
“An important security challenge that we face today, is the rising fragility, an outcome of political, economic and social instability in our immediate neighbourhood. India seems to be the only island of stability in a sea of turmoil and turbulence. Lack of stable governance structures, effective law enforcement can create safe havens for criminal activities including narcotics, human trafficking and arms smuggling. These activities not only undermine regional security but also have the potential to destabilise our security environment,” General Chauhan said.
“Instability in our immediate and extended neighbourhood has to be seen in the light that India needs to expand its footprint to cover all those crucial gaps that other people can fill in. It will not be in India’s long term security interest that China plays the game of Chinese Checkers in India’s backyards. India aspires and must become the first responder and preferred security partner in the Indian Ocean Region,” he said.
The CDS further said, “Another challenge is unsettled borders. The ancient frontiers of India started taking shape of firm borders under the British but they could not get the legitimacy of the International borders. On Independence, thus we inherited disputed borders. Occupation of Tibet by China made them our new neighbour and the partition of India created a new nation that thrived on hostility and hatred towards us.”
“Today, India has disputed borders with both of our neighbours. Disputes followed by conflicts have led to the emergence of terms like Line of Actual Control, Line of Control and Actual Ground Position Line. The unsettled borders with China and the rise of China will remain the most formidable challenge that India and Indian Armed forces will face in the foreseeable future. The Armed forces need to maintain the legitimacy of our claims in peacetime on these disputed borders. This will require very astute handling of the PLA and all the friction points, calibrated firmness and both sides to operate within the ambit of agreed rules of engagement,” he added.
