Chahabar Port: why India is out of Iran?

Chabahar port is a part of the regional economic strategy of India. Since the end of the Cold War, Chabahar port is a component of India's Grand Strategy. After 1991, the core objective of Indian Foreign Policy was to seek foreign support for the economic development of India, engage with middle and great powers, normalise India's engagement in the neighbourhood and raise India's profile in the external neighbourhood (this is the point where Iran's Chabahar port comes into play) and finally to improve India's international standing. 

The idea of Chabahar port came up in 2003 when Iranian President Khatami visited India a deal was signed between the two states. For India, Chabahar port remains the most important tools that can alter the hostile regional geography that India has inherited post-partition of India and Pakistan. Post-1947, the partition has deprived India of physical access to Afghanistan and Central Asia. India and Iran developed an interest in Afghanistan.in 1996 when both opposed Taliban and supported the Northern Alliance. 

Post-2001, India and Iran continued to cement their bilateral relations to reach out to Central Asia and Afghanistan, while the US encouraged India to reach Central Asia via Pakistan. As Pakistan continued to deny India overland transit access to Central Asia and Afghanistan, India decided to make a move with Iran. The significance of Chabahar port for India has gained higher importance after the Chinese announced the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor under the Belt and Road initiative, Chabahar port allows India to bypass the geographical limitations imposed by the partition. 

Ashgabat Agreement

In 2016, India-Afghanistan and Iran concluded the trilateral transit and transport corridor treaty. Under the treaty, India has committed 500 million dollars to develop Chabahar port and establish railway line infrastructure. The treaty will allow India to access Central Asia and will give a boost to the idea of regional connectivity. Iran also favours India's inclusion into the Ashgabat Agreement. Under the Ashgabat Agreement (concluded in 2016 between Iran, Turkmenistan, Oman and Uzbekistan), the Persian Gulf will be connected to Central Asia through a direct corridor. Chabahar port for India is not just about access to energy markets of Central Asia but also access to fast-growing economies of the Eurasian region and a gambit against history. India may witness some challenges in the endeavour of developing the Chabahar port. 

Firstly, Kaine to convince private players to use Iran as a transit route to reach Central Asia than China, which is the presently used route. Secondly, to access the future markets of Central Asia and the Eurasian region, Indian exports need to become more competitive. 

Chabahar is Iran's only oceanic port and has two separate ports Shahid kalamkari and Shahid Beheshti with five berths. In 2003, India and Iran agreed on Chabahar and India decided to develop Shanid Beheshti but it slowed down due to sanctions. In 2016, India decided to refurbish Shahid Beheshti and reconstructed a 600 m long container-handling facility. The 2016 agreement allows Indian ports global (a joint venture of JNPT and Kandla Port Trust) to develop two berths. India is also constructing a railway line to connect Chabahar and Zahedan and on Iran Afghan border. This helped India to bypass Helmand Province of Afghanistan that is a hotbed of Taliban. If berths are developed, the trading capacity will rise from 2.5 million tonnes to 8 million tonnes and will give India access to Eurasia and Afghanistan. 

To develop Chabahar, India Ports Global has got 500 million dollars from India. It has to establish the container terminals at Chabahar Port. The pioneers in the construction are Swiss firm Liebherr and Finland Konecranes. Due to Trump's withdrawal from JCPOA, India Ports Global has not been able to proceed to take help. In 2016, a deadline of 18 months was set up but the uncertainty prevails today. James M. Dorsey is of the view that the US seems to work with Saudi and UAE to destabilise Iran and check Qatar and this would affect Chabahar and India. However, in February 2018, a part of the Chabahar has become operational.

India china border tension explained

The border tensions brewing between India and China is a critical issue that has not been discussed upon much in our TV news channels because it probably raises uncomfortable questions .Have the Chinese invaded the Indian territory? If yes, then to what extent and how many intruders are there? How much area has been occupied by them and what is the reason behind this? The Indian government has not yet provided answers to these questions No clear cut answers to these questions have been given by the Indian government But there are some reports and some sources of retired army officers we will try and find the possible answers to these questions I will present the argument of both the sides here So that you can evaluate both the sides and try to find out the truth Come, 

The border between Pakistan occupied Kashmir and India is called LOC- Line of Control But the border between Chinese occupied Ladakh and India is called LAC.Line of Actual Control You can take a look at the map- LAC is the line between Aksai Chin and India And LOC is the line between PoK and India. Now, there are some critical differences between LOC and LAC, LOC is very clearly defined Both Pakistan and India are aware of where the boundary line actually is But the LAC line is not clearly defined , there is a word for it- Demarcated So LOC is demarcated while LAC is not That is, it's not clearly defined Both China and India claim that the LAC is in different places . Both the countries have different perceptions about where the LAC actually lies And due to the different claims by both the countries, there is an overlapping territory between them.

Disputed area between India China

There weren't any posts of the Indian army or the Chinese army Both the Indian and the Chinese army merely patrolled that area And this is why there were clashes and conflicts between both the armies when they came patrolling which you might have even heard about- these clashes would recur between the two armies every 2-3 years and they happened because of these grey areas. One army came patrolling whilst the other was already patrolling, Then one army would write on banners to tell the other that they were trespassing upon their territory and would request them to go back Ever since the Indian army has upgraded its equipment and improved its infrastructure over the past years, the Indian Army increased the frequency of its patrols ,this is the reason why the conflicts and confrontations with the Chinese army have also increased Whenever this happens, the media on both sides report of an Intrusion of the Indian/Chinese army on their soil Things like these keep on recurring. But the situation today is more serious that these regular and minor skirmishes .

It is believed that the conflict ongoing today started on 5th May and it was reported for the first time on 12th May by the Economic Times. This entire situation is happening in Pangong Lake- which is a lake in Ladakh. If you remember the 3 idiots movie- the end scene of the movie was shot in this lake It is a very long lake- around 130 kilometres in length and its breadth is around 5 kilometres. The scene in the movie 3 idiots was shot on the westernmost part of the lake But around 60% of the area of this lake falls within Chinese occupied territory and the Line of Actual Control passes through this lake. If you take a look at the map, there are pointed edges protruding in the norther side of the Pangong Lake .The shape of the lake is somewhat like this These pointed edges are called "fingers" of the lake Starting from the left/West side, these fingers have been named Finger 1, Finger 2, Finger 3 and so on India claims that the LAC lies in the Finger 8 area China  claims that the LAC lies in the Finger 2 area The Grey Zone that we talked about earlier lies in between Finger 2 and Finger 8 on the map Talking about the ongoing problem, it was said on 4th-5th May that Chinese troops had reached till Finger 5 while patrolling and this led to a conflict Talking about the second conflict, it was reported that between 10th and 11th of May the Chinese troops reached Finger 4 while  patrolling and this led to stone pelting A fist fight broke out between Indian and Chinese troops in which 11 people got injured But the talks about tensions and Chinese intrusions today is not just about one place But three different places The first area is Pangong Lake that I told you about The second area is Galwan River Valley in Ladakh And the third area is Hot Springs near Kongka Pass.

Newly released map

Aggressive china post

 Let us first start with the Pangong Lake, Retired Colonel Ajay Shukla Ji in order to find out what his sources have to say about the extent to which Chinese intrusion has taken place in the Pangong Lake -As per your sources, how far do you think China has occupied territory in the three areas of conflict? 

The Pangong Lake 

The spurs that move downwards towards the Pangong Lake from the mountains have been numbered. The Number 1 is on the westernmost side on the left and lies on the side of India and then number 2, 3, 4... until number 8 is on the easternmost side- on the side of China The land between Finger 4 to Finger 8 had remained unoccupied until now and there had been no troops there There were only patrols by both the sides Right now, China has physically occupied it and have stationed themselves there

.

The numbering of Pangong Lake

 They have brought in arms and are preparing trenches and their stations and have occupied that area completely  -How many soldiers have occupied that area between Finger 4 and Finger 8? -There are around 4,000-5,000 Chinese soldiers in the area between Finger 4 and Finger 8 -And this is a distance of 4 kilometers.This is the Indian territory that they have occupied For a different viewpoint the of Retd LT. General H S Panang regarding this Pangong Area He wrote his opinion on the Print Media website and the results according to his assessment was quite similar to what Ajay Shukla ji told us. The area between Finger 4 and Finger 8 has been occupied by China which came under the "grey area", even though India's claim was up till finger 8 So China has moved into the area claimed by India, and this, according to him is an area of about 35-40 square kilometers and China has stationed around 1-2 battalions here He also believes that the journalists that are "misinterpreting" these Fingers and are basically saying that it cannot be said that Chinese have occupied Indian territory. These journalists are basically playing into China's hands, They are basically favoring China by denying that China has moved into the territory claimed by India -

The Galwan valley and the Hot springs

 - the situation is the worst in Galwan. The area between Finger 4 and Finger 8 is a tiny area which does not dominate any area further and the occupation of which does not yield a lot of benefits to the Chinese soldiers on the military front But they are going to reap a huge benefit on the military front in Galwan By coming into the Galwan valley and stationing themselves on the Galwan heights, the 255km road that has been laid until Daulat Beg Oldi from Shyok and Darbuk which travels northward towards Daulat Beg Oldi. The Chinese soldiers that have moved into the Galwan Valley are in a strategically beneficial position as they can overlook that road. They can use artillery and cannons to fire on it And if they want to stop India from making use of this road, then they can easily do so Because the intrusion in Galwan is the most dangerous. 

H S Panag Ji has also pointed out in his article that the area of the Galwan river valley has been breached into by China and they have occupied around 2-3 kilometers of the area at a height Around two Chinese battalions are present at a height, which is a huge disadvantage for India. It becomes easier to attack lower terrain if one is situated at a height, Another thing pointed out by him is that the differing perceptions of the claims by India and China and the grey area in between, In the area of the Galwan river valley, no such grey area is present India and China do not have different perceptions in this area. There exists one single line So according to him, Chinese intrusion in this area is actually encroaching upon Indian territory.

 And the differing perceptions regarding the claims of India and China is clear in the case of Pangong Lake Does something like that exist in the case of Galwan as well? 

Galwan Valley

Galwan was an area where both the Indian and the Chinese soldiers did not get into conflicts. The claim lines of both of them were approximately the same Chinese claim line in Ladakh was separate from Galwan So by coming in here, the Chinese soldiers have violated their own claim line.

And (what about) the third region- the Hot springs region? 

As per sources in the Indian Army, China is only pressing for the third region in order to divert the focus of the Indian soldiers and to disturb them But they will get no strategic benefit by encroaching here Neither have they captured much land nor is there a military benefit as in the case of Galwan. the viewpoints of some more retired army officers Lt. General Rameshwar Roy has said that we should not compare this situation with the earlier situations, The situation today is far more grim Col Malkiat has said that this situation is basically like "Chinese Kargil" This situation is that critical KJS Arora said that this is a loss of national pride and it is extremely shameful how some politicians are trying to douse the situation by giving us the excuse of different perceptions and are not admitting that India has actually lost territory to the hands of China. 

The Indian government has made no clear cut communication with its citizenry during this entire situation In an interview, Rajnath Singh Ji said that Chinese have come into Indian territory in sizeable numbers When the video went viral, some people began to share it as an admission by the Defense Minister So then PIB brought out a "fact check" and the government denied it, saying that Rajnath Singh meant something else and that he is being misinterpreted He merely meant that the Chinese troops have reached the LAC. So the BJP leadership of India is not able to take some stern steps but it does not want to show the public that it is adopting some other ways in front of China and this is why, they have maintained right from the start that China has done nothing at all They say that China merely occupied a small portion of the disputed area for a while, after which they left The tune that Pakistan adopted during the surgical strikes and during the time of Balakot, that India said nothing. They're merely lying that they came Similarly, the BJP leadership is adopting the same approach against China right now. 

That they never came China has trespassed into the Indian soil as of now. So India is doing the same thing with China, which Pakistan did with India back then -India is doing the same thing with China. This leadership, in a way, is forfeiting its own territory Some experts believe that not telling everything to the citizens is a good strategy by the government Otherwise, it would lead to a lot of pressure being mounted on the government from the opposition and the people to take action in one direction If the government does not divulge a lot of information to the people, then it would have more available options of how to address the situation Maybe they would want to let go off an area But if they let the public know, there is so much nationalist sentiment within the people today that they would they take the government to task It would then mount pressure upon the government to retaliate to China in the same manner that it adopts, for example, the surgical strike in Pakistan that we talk about but on the other hand some experts like Lt. Gen. H S Panag maintain that if the government is denying this information to the public.

There are many different theories for this by different experts Some say that China is inculcating nationalist sentiments within its own country in order to divert the attention of the people from the state of the economy which has crashed due to COVID 19 Others deny this and say that the reason is that China is threatened by the road India is constructing and China wants the construction of the road to stop and India is denied the strategic advantage that it would otherwise get -What do you think are the reasons for the Chinese to behave like this? One reason is stated to be the DSDBO road China is doing this to stop the construction of this road. 

Impeding the road construction is an instrument, an advantage, a military tool that they have got, But why they want to stop the construction of the road is extremely important In my opinion and according to many experts, when India changed the status of Kashmir on 5th Aug last year and changed the status of Ladakh as well When it was made into a union territory by India from being a portion of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and when it was said that Aksai Chin. which has been occupied by China is also a part of it, This made China feel that India is unilaterally changing the status of this entire area And this was not at all liked by them And now they want to show that if you can change the status unilaterally, so can we, 

-But will not doing this affect them geopolitically? As it is, a lot of countries in the world are against China at the moment regarding the Coronavirus situation and due to other reasons as well. The UK is also against it due to what's happening in Hong Kong So will it not backfire on China to be at loggerheads with all the countries? -China is basically trying to show that it is a global power And that they will resort to arbitrariness if they so wish to and they can do so on many fronts Gone are the days of fighting only on one front, of it not being able to fight with India if a fight with Vietnam is on Right now, China believes that it is the kind of superpower that it can pursue Chinese interests on multiple fronts simultaneously. 

Spotlight on the Gurkha regiments:beyond the call of duty

The war cry of the Gorkha Regiments is ‘Jai Maha Kali, Ayo Gorkhali’ .

Sam Manekshaw, India’s first field Marshall, who himself belonged to the eighth Gurkha Rifles regiment, once famously said: “If anyone tells you he is never afraid, he is a liar or he is a Gurkha.”

War cry of gorkha

Gorkhas are soliders native of Nepalese nationality,that was started recruiting by British army.The Gorkha word was originated from kingdom of nepal and expanded under  Prithvi narayan shah.they are associated with a forward curved nepali knife called khukuri have a reputation of fearless military power.

Around 1816,Anglo nepali war was fought between Gurkha Kingdom of nepal and British East India company .Treaty of Sugauli was signed in the end. Gorkhali soilder made an impression on British ,who called them Gurkhas.

   Gorkha empire before the 1816(Sugali treaty)

After India gained Independence, six Gurkha regiments were transferred from the British to the Indian Army as part of a tripartite agreement between Nepal, India and Britain. A seventh regiment was raised after Independence. Currently, there roughly are 32,000 Gurkhas who make up the 40 battalions serving in the seven regiments in the Indian Army. There is not a single military campaign launched by independent India, where the battalions have not left their indelible mark. In recent decades, many retired Indian Army officers would recall the sheer tenacity, courage and combat skills of Gurkha troops at the dizzy heights of the Siachen Glacier in Ladakh.

The Gorkha Regiments have been awarded 3 Param Vir Chakras, 33 Maha Vir Chakras, and 84 Vir Chakras during operations.

                    Gorkha regiment

Hitler once said “ If I had Gurkhas, no armies in the world will defeat me ”.

Also check the article on Importance of Pangong Tso Lake and Galwan Valley :China's presence in Ladakh

Hong Kong will no longer autonomous from china

Mike Pompeo says Hong Kong will no longer autonomous from China.as China prepares to impose a new security law in the territory and will likely end Hong Kong's special status and further damage US-China relations.

Flag of Hong Kong and China

       

The  march had started been planned in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council on a new national anthem bill, which would punish anyone who insulted China’s anthem with up to three years in prison.

History of Hong Kong

Hong Kong was occupied by uk in 1841,in 19th century China ceded the Hong kong,uk signed the agreement with China on 19 December 1984 ,under this agreement Hong Kong became the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 1 July 1997.

In this agreement, China has promised that, under its "one country, two systems" formula, the Chinese socialist economic system will not be imposed on Hong Kong. Hong Kong will enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters, except foreign and defense affairs, for the next 50 years (at least until 2047).

                 Map of Hong Kong

Shimla Convention and McMahon line

After Anglo-Burma war, when Assam became a part of British, the British had a lot of conflicts with the tribes because of tea plantation activities.

Resolve these conflicts, the British decided to resolve this issue by creating inner-line and outer-line permit system. As per the system, the British would carry out trade within the region of inner-line areas while outer-line areas will remain out of bounds for the British and would be for tribals.

In 1911, a British officer Noel Williamson happened to cross the banks of river Dihang and entered into the area occupied by Abor tribe. This led Abor tribe to hit back to Williamson and the Abors massacred the entire team. The British decided to retaliate and with a larger objective in mind, the British crossed over into outer-line areas and decided to forestall the Chinese presence and conclude the boundary with China. 

                 Anglo abor war 1911

The Williamson episode let the British to resolve the boundary issue with China. What also motivated the British to resolve the bounty issue once and for all is the fall of Qing dynasty in 1911-12. The collapse of Qing dynasties also led to a mutiny in Tibet and Tibetans revolted against the Ambans. This led to collapse of the Ambans and Dalai Lama returned back to Lhasa in 1912. The British now got the right opportunity to keep Chinese and Russian route of Tibet and make both a truly autonomous buffer state point the right opportunity came because of 

1. Easy access to outer-line areas due to Williamsom episode,
2.  Fall of Qing dynasty led to a weak Central government in Peking, 
3.  the Ambans got crushed due to a mutiny in Tibet.

The British played their cards. In 1912, the British minister in Peking short of a letter to Peking, He asserted that China is interfering in Tibet and this is a violation of Lhasa convention 1906. He asserted that Chinese suzerainty is recognised by British (over Tibet) but that does not entitle the Chinese to interfere in Tibet. He asserted that China has violated Lhasa convention so should now come for fresh negotiation.

All this was just a game played by the British. Their ultimate aim was to take advantage of a weak Chinese Central government and convince China to go for a fresh round of negotiations. The Chinese agreed to it and decided to go for talks. It is in this context that on 23 May 1913, the British invited China, Dalai Lama for 3-party talks and decided to hold a conference on 13 October 1913 in Shimla point the British Foreign Secretary Sir Arthur Henry McMahon as the chairman of the conference.

Simla Convention

In 1913, the Simla Conference began. The British were represented by McMahan, China by their representative Ivan Chen and Tibetan representative was Lonchen Shatra. The moment the conference vegan, China protest unveiled the British plan. the Tibet been given an equal status but to no avail.

                  Boundries of Tibet in 1914

The McMahon plan was:

1. India will get Tawang region.
2. Tibet will be divided into outer Tibet (Red line) and inner Tibet (Blue line).
3. Outer Tibet to have a boundary with India and our have a with India and outer Tibet to have Dalai Lama.

The Tibetan delegation led by Lanchen Shatra urged the British to keep Tibetan states in red-line area as they were and also if Tso Karpo and Tsari Sarpa (two sacred agreed to i Tibet became autonomous. Ivan Chen refused to accept the division of Tibet. China did not Sien this Shimla Convention. The British concluded the Shimla convention 1914 bilaterally with Lanchen Shatra.The British did not publish the Shimla Convention of 1914 till 1937. This was done to ensure Russia does not become angry with the British for not engaging with Russia over the birth. The British published the similar convention in 1937 and now use the McMahon Line to show the border.

The Shimla Convention and maintained Tawang cannot be a part of India as it is a part of South but the British however continued to assert that McMahon Line would be the boundary in the East according to Chinese. Thus, neither the boundary in the Western Sector could be fixed and nor the boundary in East could be fixed that was mutually acceptable to both British and China. The fixing and re-fixing of the boundaries that happened during British times was done to suit their interests. Aksai Chin was shown as a part of China in Johnson Line, but it is rejected the same point the McCartney McDonald Line which in 1899 showed Aksai Chin within China but most of the pre-partition maps of British marked Aksai Chin as undefined territory. The British maintained that the Eastern boundary is the MacMohan Line and left the Western and Middle sectors undefined.

        Disputed area over indo china border

China Standoff : Importance of Pangong Tso Lake and Galwan Valley , China's presence in Ladakh

Why in news: China has erected around 100 tents around Pangong Tso lake and Galwan Valley from 5 may 2020 and brought in heavy equipment for construction of bunkers.Indian troops are also resorting to aggressive patrolling in sensetive areas.Mediation of America between India China dispute.

 

                    Pangong tso lake 

The images circulating on social media are of Ngari Gunda airport in Tibet ,which is around 200 kilometres from Pangong tso lake.

For now top commanders of Indian army have reviewed the situation along LAC .

Click here to read full explanation of of India china border tension

History of Aksai chin and 1962 war

The British and Tibet signed the Simla Agreement in 1914, where Henry McMahon promo the drawing of borders according to a plan.the McMahon Line was drawn to demarcate borders. However, all Chinese government subsequently till date have refused to accept the Simla Agreement. The McMahon Line demarcated the Eastern Indo-Tibet border but there was no such frontier in the West in 1947. India continued to claim Aksai Chin as a part of India in the Western Sector despite having no administrative or military presence in Aksai Chin. China used the Aksai Chin territory, which was a part of Dogra kingdom in Kashmir, in 1950 to invade Tibet.

Further, in 1953, India consolidated its position in the Eastern Sector by controlling Tawang, which was a territory south of the McMahon Line.

Click here to read Shimla Convention and McMahon line in detail

After the Panchsheel Agreement in 1954, the Ministry of external affairs was informed of the need to have a new map with Aksai Chin in Western Sector declared as a part of India and in the Eastern Sector along McMahon Line. However, the new maps were not to have references to any line and ensure that India left no undemarcated territory.

In 1957 China established a road in Aksai Chin. This road was vital to take infrastructural equipment and logistics from PLA to Tibet. As this road was established, it created a storm. In 1960, Zhou told Nehru that China would give up its claims on Arunachal if India gives up claim on the Western Sector.Nehru rejected the proposal, aggravating Zhou's fear that India wants to undermine China's control of Tibet.

From 1961 ,nehru began to encourage Indian troops to go up to high altitude and assert their claim.finally Chinese retaliated aggressively in October 1962 in eastern sector almost upto bhramhputra plain.after a month Chinese declared ceased fire and maintain status quo.

      Disputed area between India and China