Crossfire War – Reports of ‘Incursions’ by Chinese Troops into NE India

Crossfire War – RAPID FIRE NEWS=BEIJING – TEHRAN – ISLAMABAD WATCH – South Asia Theatre: Beijing – Riyadh – Tehran – Katmandu – Kabul – Tashkent – Dhaka – Islamabad/Srinagar – Arunachal Pradesh – Delhi; Due to Reports of “Incursions” by Chinese Troops India DM A K Antony Visits Sikkim for Briefing – China Pres. Hu Jintao Speaks of Sino-Pakistani Strategic Partnership to Reach New Heights – Joint Action Against India – Serbia – Turkey Presidents Meet in Ankara – Strengthen Military Cooperation

Night Watch: NATHU LA PASS – After receiving reports of “incursions” by Chinese troops India Defense Minister A. K. Antony will begin a two day visit to Sikkm beginning Saturday. The Gulf-Times/IANS report he will visit the region of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), which divides India’s northeast province of Arunachal Pradesh from China/Tibet. Antony will specifically be taken to the Nathu La pass at the altitude of 14,140 ft along the ancient Silk Road trade route between India-China and an area of border conflict since India’s independence in 1947. It was here China invaded India across the LAC into Arunachal Pradesh for one month in October 1962 with the fighting extending south into Assam state near the Bay of Bengal forcing India to fire its Defense Minister afterward. Countless meetings over the years between the India and Chinese government have never come close to resolving the issue even though the dispute takes place during the public diplomatic show of improved relations and flowery statements between both capitals of regional cooperation toward a prosperous future. [GULFTIMES]

Kupwara – As the Defense Minister’s visit begins Saturday, senior officials from both India and China will be meeting to plan war games between the two countries in China next month, but I expect those games to be cancelled when Beijing enters the next war between Pakistan/India that could erupt before year’s end. As an indication Islamic militants will be extremely active during the winter WebIndia123 reports Indian troops have seized enormous amounts of weaponry and clothes Islamic fighters had stored in a hideout in the Kupwara district of North Kashmir. Among the equipment uncovered were AK-47 rounds, grenades, grenade launchers, explosives and remote controlled IEDs (improvised explosive devices). Militant groups have increased their infiltration attempts this month, the same month the Islamic uprising began in 1989 and there have been more attacks inside India in Uttar Pradesh. The 1989 uprising came extremely close to causing the fourth Pakistan/India war when news mentioned in late January 1990 Delhi was rushing reinforcements to Kashmir and there were reports a couple of years later Pakistan was loading during that crisis nuclear bombs on the F-16s it did have, which is why Washington suspended further F-16s sales to Pakistan even though Islamabad had paid for them. The sales were resumed as Pakistan supported the Bush administration war in Afghanistan. [WEBINDIA123]

Beijing – China’s government kept alive the dispute over control of Arunachal Pradesh when last year its Ambassador to Delhi stated publicly in November 2006 the province was Chinese territory. The following month, December, crossfirewar.com reported China-Pakistan conducted joint maneuvers just west of Kashmir and indicated a joint military high command liaison had been established between them. India External Affairs (Foreign Affairs) Minister Pranab Mukherjee has told Parliament there is no clearly defined boundary separating China and India. Mukherjee then stated, “China illegally claims approximately 90,000 sq km of Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh and about 2,000 sq km in the middle of the India/China boundary.” China also controls 38,000 sq km of territory India claims in Jammu-Kashmir. [GULFTIMES]

China President Hu Jintao has just given more support to Beijing’s position as he congratulated Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf on his recent appointment, “Pakistan is a friendly neighbor and partner that is like a brother to us…the Chinese side is willing to grasp hands with Pakistan in an effort to strengthen relations in all areas and take the Sino-Pakistani strategic partnership to new heights.” This is a diplomatic way of saying Hu Jintao expects a military victory against a common enemy-India.

Ankara – As a follow up to the increased military relations instituted between Belgrade-Ankara in September, Serbia President Boris Tadic arrived in Ankara yesterday for meetings with Turkey President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This is in response to the continued Brussels’ led occupation of the former Yugoslavia by troops from some NATO countries an alliance neither Athens nor Ankara is seriously cooperating with anymore. No government in Southeast Europe was eager to see some NATO nations make a power projection in their direction creating regional instability. I suspect Ankara agrees with Belgrade’s position that NATO’s occupation is more of a problem than nationalistic aspirations of Albanians, which is why Serbia has stated without NATO, Serbia and Albanians could come to an agreement. [TDN]

In September, Serbia Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Zdravko Ponos met with, in Ankara, Turkey Chief of Staff Yasar Buyukanit to plan joint military operations when the war resumes over Kosovo at any moment. In 2006, Belgrade also signed security agreements with Tehran in January and Athens in November. Iran knows not only will NATO’s command structure collapse when fighting resumes, but the war will also be used to silence Vienna and end the investigation into Iran’s nuclear weapons program by the UN agency based there. The division of Yugoslavia resurrected centuries old European disputes in a region that was the flashpoint for the First World War 1914-18 and also experienced heavy fighting in World War II 1939-45.

www.crossfirewar.com

Willard Payne is an international affairs analyst who specializes in International Relations. A graduate of Western Illinois University with a concentration in East-West Trade and East-West Industrial Cooperation, he has been providing incisive analysis to NewsBlaze. He is the author of Imagery: The Day Before.