Does this worry you too ?

This post consists of a bunch of news article (ctrl c - ctrl v ki jai !). I thought these were a matter of concern, so I decided to string them together and run them on the blog.

From whatever I have read about the run-up to the 1962 India - China war, it seems that the Indian government was given multiple warnings about Chinese army incursions into Indian territory but it chose to ignore the same. So I wonder what the truth is this time.

Are the news agencies creating a hullaballoo for the sake of readership / viewership ? Or is the government turning a blind eye to something it should treat as top priority ?

Zen.


From DNA (http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1095181)
China makes new inroads in Arunachal
Rajesh Sinha
Monday, May 07, 2007 09:47 IST
NEW DELHI: As India and China move to resolve their differences over borders, there is one aspect both countries have carefully refrained from talking about: that China has moved up to 20 km into India and grabbed a portion of the 90,000 sq km area of the Northeast that it claims as its own.
Though India has consistently denied that China has occupied its territory, the MP from West Arunachal, Kiren Rijiju of the BJP, said he has received written replies from the ministries of external affairs and defence, indicating that they were aware of the inroads made by the Chinese.
“I have their replies, admitting that there are problems and the government is trying to sort them out,” Rijiju told DNA.
Earlier, the Centre had sought a report from the state on the matter, which resulted in a detailed note being sent to the Union home ministry in 2005 by the state police. The document said the Chinese had started their foray into Tawang district in 2004, covering an unspecified huge area that includes several villages.
According to Rijiju, the areas under foreign occupation include the Sumdorong Chu valley, the Asapila and Lungar camps, large portions of grazing lands used by villagers, and some strategic points. A helipad in Sumdorong Chu has also been under Chinese control for two years, he said.
Repeated attempts by DNA to obtain comments from the Chinese embassy were turned down by its officials.
According to an officer from military intelligence, certain flat stretches in the region have been cleared and levelled for use as helipads. The border is unmarked, which sometimes opens these makeshift helipads for use by both the Chinese as well as the Indian Army.
According to Lokam Tassar, independent MLA from the Koloriang reserved tribal seat, “The Chinese are now 20km inside Taksin and have taken over several camps belonging to the Indian Army.”
In 2006, Chinese Ambassador Sun Yuxi’s statement reiterating Beijing’s claim to a major portion of Arunachal Pradesh had created a flutter in diplomatic circles, but both sides played it down. It now seems, however, that China has done more than simply make verbal claims.
Security agencies say that the recent incursion began in the winter of 2003 and was noticed when an Indian Army patrol found the Chinese occupying what had been an Indian outpost. In the absence of any action from the Indians, the Chinese stayed on and moved in further.
Extent of transgression
Though India has denied that China has occupied territory, West Arunachal MP Kiren Rijiju has said he received word from the ministries of external affairs and defence that they were aware of China’s inroads.
Rijiju said the areas under foreign occupation include the Sumdorong Chu valley, the Asapila and Lungar camps, large portions of grazing lands and other strategic points. A helipad in Sumdorong Chu is also under Chinese control.
According to local MLA Lokam Tassar, the Chinese are now 20km inside Taksin and have taken over several camps belonging to the Indian Army.


The Indian Express : May 08, 2007
Arunachal denies China entry report

Itanagar : The Arunachal government on Monday dismissed as ‘baseless’ a media report that the Chinese army had entered 20 km inside Indian territory at Sanchong-Chu in Tawang. Spokesman Tako Dabi described the news as ‘baseless and unfortunate’.


http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/may/08china.htm
No incursion by Chinese: Arunachal CM



May 08, 2007 19:01 IST
Close on the heels of the defence ministry's denial of a Chinese incursion into Arunachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu has said that there was no report that Chinese forces had entered 20 km inside Indian territory at Sumdorong-Chu in Tawang district.
Referring to a statement in this regard made by independent legislator Lokam Tassar and quoted by a television news channel on Monday, Khandu said the comments were 'irresponsible, most unfortunate and unsubstantiated utterances.'
Khandu told media persons in Guwahati while on his way to New Delhi on Monday that the Chinese have been claiming Arunachal Pradesh as their territory but there have not been any incursions.
Chinese forces had crossed the Line of Actual Control and occupied Sumdorong-Chu Valley and Asapila and Lunger areas in Tawang district in 1986.
In the absence of a properly delineated LAC, troops from both sides wandered into each other's territory, Khandu said.Khandu reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India and people of the state would never give up their territorial rights.
Just before the visit of the Chinese president to India last year, Chinese envoy Sun Yuxi had claimed that the whole of Arunachal Pradesh was Chinese territory.
Nearly 180 opposition BJP members of both houses of Parliament on Tuesday decided to demand for constitution of a joint parliamentary group to visit the border in Arunachal Pradesh.
Kiren Rijiju, a BJP lawmaker from the state, alleged the Chinese, taking advantage of poor infrastructure on the Indian side, had been 'continuously encroaching' into Arunachal Pradesh at many places along the over 1,000-km-long border.