Modi visits Ladakh region

Modi met troops at a base in Ladakh’s Nimu area. (File/AFP)

• Modi has been under pressure to respond to what India deems Chinese incursions
• Officials said Modi was accompanied by the chief of defense staff

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday sniped at regional rival China, as he paid a surprise visit to the disputed Himalayan region of Ladakh which has seen violent clashes between both countries’ troops.
“The era of expansionism is over, this is the era of development,” Modi told Indian soldiers stationed in the Nimoo area of Ladakh, around 240 km from the Galwan Valley where 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a fight with Chinese troops on June 15.
Without naming China, he added: “In the last century, examples are rife of countries that had adopted an expansionist attitude and threatened world peace but were eventually either destroyed or had to beat an ignominious retreat. The countries across the world were united against expansionism and oriented towards an age of development and open competition.”
Modi was saying that it was the Chinese expansionist mindset that was at fault and not some land, according to political analyst Harsh V. Pant from the Observer Research Foundation think tank.
“For the PM to go to Ladakh is a clear statement of intent that India is not going to buckle down and, as far as India is concerned it is not about boundary problems but it is Chinese expansionism which is at fault,” Pant told Arab News.
The Ladakh visit came a day after New Delhi announced a $5.8 million package for the purchase of new fighter aircraft, including 21 MiG-29 and 12 Su-30MKI, missiles and ammunition to boost the combat capabilities of its armed forces.
Tensions started building up in the disputed Himalayan region in the first week of May, when Indian troops blamed China’s military for hindering the usual patrolling at the Line of Actual Control along the Ladakh and Sikkim border.
Beijing blamed its southern neighbor for building road infrastructure in the Fingers region around the Pangong Tso Lake and Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh.
Amid this blame-game, both sides started the reinforcement of troops, leading to a military buildup.
The violence in the Galwan Valley on June 15 took place when both sides were supposedly negotiating de-escalation measures.
Political analysts viewed Modi’s Ladakh visit primarily as a morale-boosting gesture.
“Such a visit is needed at a time when the country is beleaguered,” Mohan Guruswamy, from the Centre for Policy Alternatives think-tank, told Arab News.
He said that the Defence Ministry’s new purchase list should not be linked to the present tension as it was already in the pipeline.
“The situation cannot be normal unless China withdraws from the Indian territory. It is a big setback. Modi met Chinese leadership 18 times in the last six years. He invested lots of goodwill in the relationship.”
According to a former Indian Army brigadier, Ravi Malik, the two countries needed a policy change to improve relations.
“China will have to change its policy toward India and it is only then that the relationship between the two nations will regain momentum,” Malik told Arab News. “It is in our interests that the situation becomes normal otherwise we are suffering, like Pakistan. There is so much potential for peace and prosperity between the two nations but the rigidity in the policy comes in the way.”
Modi’s visit was also regarded as an attempt to regain the image of a strong leader, as India had suffered after the Chinese incursion.
“The visit of Modi to Ladakh serves two purposes. It demonstrates the government’s intent of securing the border, and at the same time it is an attempt to do political damage control,” the ORF’s Satish Mishra told Arab News.