World Tibet Network News Wednesday, May 20, 1998
NEW DELHI, May 20 (AFP) - India and China intensified their war of words Wednesday, as deep-rooted mutual suspicion flared in the wake of India's decision to test five nuclear bombs. While India recalled its ambassador to Beijing overnight for "urgent consultations," China stepped up criticism of the five underground blastson May 11 and 13. The official Chinese media said India's explosions had "sabotaged" the fragile trust built up with Beijing over the past decade and raised the spectre of a nuclear war in South Asia. Indian officials retorted by accusing China of distorting the history surrounding their 1962 border conflict -- reopening old territorial claims and counter-claims.
India says China still holds 40,000 square kilometres (16,000 square miles) of its land at Aksai Chin in Kashmir. China lays claim to territory in India's far eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. Pramod Mahajan, political advisor to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, dismissed China's accusations over the 1962 conflict and called for calm."China's interpretation of history is incorrect. This is like the thief pulling up the policeman. We hope they will maintain restraint and defuse tension," he said.
Tension between the countries has been mounting since a letter by Vajpayeeto US President Bill Clinton explaining his decision to test the nuclear bombs was made public. The letter cited the presence of an "overt nuclear weapons state" on India's borders, a reference to China, and went on to accuse Beijing of helping Pakistan to develop a nuclear capability. Despite the grave deterioration in relations with China and Pakistan, Mahajan said India had ruled out breaking off diplomatic ties with either state. But he added that although Vajpayee had spoken to several world leaders about the tests, he had yet to speak to Chinese officials. Asked about the decision to call back the ambassador during a visit to the nuclear test site on Wednesday, Vajpayee declined to comment. "We have been trying to improve our relations with China. That process will be continued," he said. But he reiterated that India had been forced to carry out the tests because of cross-border threats and to "silence our enemies". Ties between
India and China warmed considerably in the 1980s, and a series of high-level visits which began in 1988 led to the signing of an accord to maintain peace on their borders.
Swaran Singh, an analyst at the respected Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, said events since the nuclear tests showed there had been a "definite shift" in Indian foreign policy towards China. "The pace of confidence building measures were slow in the past and there was a feeling that China is not taking India seriously and putting us on the priority list," he told AFP. "For India, the tests will prove that it will now talk from a position of strength, though it cannot as yet match the weapons capability of China. "Singh said the ball was now in China's court. He added that if China supplied more arms to Pakistan because of the nuclear tests it would play into the hands of India, who could recycle their claims that Beijing is helping Pakistan's nuclear programme.
The Indian media said Wednesday the row had shown that despite the improved atmosphere of recent years, mutual suspicions remained. The Pioneer newspaper said the presence of nearly 200,000 Tibetan refugees in India was a diplomatic embarrasment to Beijing."Clearly, Beijing has decided to retrieve all its tired arguments from the woodwork and renew a diplomatic offensive against New Delhi. "With the mask finally off, India has to take counter-measures to protect itself from the harmful effects of fire-belching by a country whose most evocative and potent symbol is the dragon."
