Drawing the lines

Depending on how Beijing responds to the dialogue just commenced between the special representatives of both sides, this may hold new promise for the future. But that future would require our pragmatism and their pragmatism to be nudged along paths leading to greater convergence toward the final points of agreement. We also need to be careful about unwarranted optimism starting to queer the pitch even before the field is ready for play. Meanwhile, there can be no doubt that both countries need to make every possible effort to ensure that peace along the border is maintained in letter and spirit. Greater progress in the demarcation of the Line of Actual Control, therefore, is the need of the hour. One can only hope that the delays in that demarcation in the eastern and western sectors are not by themselves a tactic to force concessions on the larger territorial issues.

What is difficult for the average citizen to understand is the prime minister8217;s assertion that the resolution of the border issue would release considerable 8220;military energies and finances8221;. The bilateral agreements of the last decade have already created a relaxed climate in spite of being partially vitiated when China was named as an 8220;enemy8221; and the reason for our nuclear weapons. We need to resolve the border issues for their own sake so that potential points of friction can be reduced, but it is vital to remember that settled borders are no guarantee for future peace. Most wars, in fact, have been launched across well-established borders. With a defence budget that has come down sharply as a percentage of total government expenditure, the promise of reducing financial commitments to defence needs some pragmatic thinking, especially since China has itself gone in for a massive modernisation of its military and upgradation of logistics capabilities in its western region.