Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan on Wednesday suggested that the India-China border dispute was a result of differing understanding of maps and “we cannot really say which is correct and which is wrong”.
Chauhan was speaking at an event at the India International Centre (IIC). Responding to a question on the current situation along the LAC and how India’s map had been shrinking since 1947 with respect to China, he said, “On the question that since 1947, India finds its map shrinking and shrinking (with respect to China), if we were on the other side… if we were China in 1950 and had a look at their map they would also have found that their map is shrinking, partly because of us… they claim the state of Arunachal Pradesh. This dispute goes on, we can’t really say which is correct and which is wrong.”
Chauhan delivered a lecture at the IIC on ‘Future Wars and the Indian Armed Forces’. The event was chaired by former foreign secretary Shyam Saran, and involved a session with former defence secretary and J&K Governor N N Vohra. On a question related to the preparedness of China and Pakistan for future wars, Chauhan said, “Any professional Army would be preparing for future warfare. Theatre command and restructuring and all… the Chinese did it nine years ago. Even if they were not, we have to assume they are preparing for future warfare.” Chauhan said Agnipath was a “good scheme” even as he suggested some changes could be brought in.
During his conversation with Chauhan, Vohra gave the example of Manipur and asked who was responsible for ensuring peace — the MHA or the Armed forces. “Has the Army asked if they are being asked to be the military aide to civil authority, what are the terms? What are the objectives? Things may go wrong in a major way unless there are systems in place,” Vohra said.
