Food for thought

In the sector which saw thousands of deaths during the Indo-China conflictof 1962, the Indian and Chinese Army officers demonstrate that friendshipsand humanity have no respect for borders. The rest of the year they may haveguns trained on each other, as the situation between the two countrieswarrants, but when these Army officers come to the border meetings, theybear gifts to exchange, like traditional shawls and sweets, and spend a goodtime discussing about the quality of such gifts before moving on to seriousdiscussions.

In fact, the BPMs remain inconclusive without the gifts, momos and pakoras.In May, these are held inside Indian territory, and in October, it is theturn of the Chinese to host it on their soil. Snowed in for almost half ofthe year along the 270-km international border in the Kameng Sector, bothsides find these meetings a welcome break. “While exchanging gifts is oneinteresting part of the BPM, the delicious food that they serve is alsointeresting,” says one Indian officer here on condition of anonymity.

Similarly, he adds, the Chinese too look forward to the food we serve.There have been occasions when the guest side has even made request for aparticular kind of dish, the officer says. The Indian side has constructed ahut specially for hosting these BPMs, only a few kilometres from Tawang inthe Kameng Sector. Tawang is hardly 15 km from the Chinese border.

Apart from the food, problems like yaks and cattle crossing theinternational border get aired at these meetings. Sometimes, the officersseek release of ignorant graziers who might have crossed over to bring backtheir cattle and been caught.

An Indian officer of the rank of a Brigade Major (in this case it is theBrigade Major of the 190 Mountain Brigade, more popularly known as KoreaBrigade, posted here) participates in these meetings. His Chinesecounterpart is normally a Staff Officer in the country’s army.

These meetings have been held since the agreement for de-escalation oftroops by both sides was signed in 1991. Besides, there are regular `Flagmeetings’, attended by even lower-level officers, on a requirement basis.

The Brigadier also holds an occasional meeting with his counterpart on theother side, normally a Senior Colonel, “but that is only when there is realurgency to talk at our level”, says Brigadier David Devavaram of the 190Mountain Brigade, who is directly in-charge of the Kameng Sector.

The Brigade Major here also talks to his Chinese counterpart every Teusday,and the two have a hotline on which they communicate with the help ofinterpreters.

Taking photographs is another ritual which is strictly followed and enjoyedby members of the delegations from both sides. But Indian Army officers hererefused to part with any of those photographs, saying it would not be decentto print one in a newspaper without their (the Chinese) prior knowledge.