BJP sets up panel to look into Chinese incursions

Upping the ante on the perceived threat from China,the BJP on Friday constituted a five-member committee to study and prepare a report on...

Upping the ante on the perceived threat from China,the BJP on Friday constituted a five-member committee to study and prepare a report on Chinese incursions and encroachments into Indias territory in Ladakh even as it repeated the charge that new National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon is known to follow a soft line on China and Pakistan.

The RSS,especially its chief Mohan Bhagwat,has been talking about the threat from China in the past few months and has asked for strengthening of Indias frontiers and a nationalistic foreign policy. There have been credible reports in the media quoting government agencies and sources that China has encroached into Indias territory in Ladakh, said BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad,adding that an official Chinese government website said it is their right to establish military bases overseas to conduct retaliatory attacks at potential enemies.

The BJP,meanwhile,sought to step up the heat on the appointment of Menon. My colleague Prakash Javadekar has already spoken about the Sharm el-Sheikh blunder the joint Indo-Pakistan statement,on which the BJP had launched a sustained attack on the UPA government,and said that Menon was to blame for it. We do not advocate confrontation,yet we are surprised as to why there is a deliberate attempt to downplay the increasing belligerence of Chinese assertiveness. This low profile approach would seriously impinge upon our national security. There is additional cause for concern because the new National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon is widely perceived to follow a very soft line on China and Pakistan, said Prasad.

Prasads reference to Javadekar was significant. While a section in the BJP has been uncomfortable with branding Menon considered to be a distinguished Foreign Services Officer as being soft on China and Pakistan,the BJP may now,however,like to stick to the line outlined on Friday.

The BJP also said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should visit Nepal for resolution of outstanding issues and to check Chinas expanding interest in Indias neighbouring countries. Prasad added: China has a very powerful presence in Pakistan occupied Kashmir and a very aggressive posture in Arunachal Pradesh8230; incursions in and around Ladakh are part of this design.

The five members in the BJP team are Bhagat Singh Koshiyari,Rajiv Pratap Rudy,Rajan Sushant,Tapir Gao and Nirmal Singh.