Arunachal Pradesh will never accept communist China’s aggression: Congress MLA Ninong Ering

People of Arunachal Pradesh have a strong patriotic streak as Indians and have never accepted aggression or incursion by communist China ever, Congress MLA and former Union Minister Ninong Ering said.

“We don't say ‘Namaste’ in the morning, rather we greet people with ‘Jai Hind!’ and that is the nationalistic spirit in Arunachal Pradesh,” Ering said at a webinar on ‘Comprehensive Rethink in India’s China Policy’ Law and Society Alliance, a Delhi-headquartered think-tank, and Defence Capital, a national security and strategic affairs platform during the weekend.

Raising the issue of stapled visas that were issued by Communist China to Indian citizens from Arunachal Pradesh, Ering said that in 2016, he refused to visit China when stapled visas were issued to him for an official visit.

Regarding Communist China’s military incursions into the Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh, Ering said the Indian citizens in his state picked up hammers and chisels to chase away the Chinese military personnel at Tuting when the troopers ventured into Indian territory.

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“There was a big reaction from us in Arunachal Pradesh and we captured Chinese vehicles and bulldozers, to destroy them. With slogans of ‘Jai Hind’ and ‘Bharatmata ki Jai’, the locals took over the vehicles of the Chinese military.”

Ering said he was touched by the story of Ilshat Hassaan Kokbore, a Uighur nationalist and a human rights activist currently in asylum in the United States after having to flee East Turkestan, his homeland currently under Communist China occupation.

The Congress leader also talked about his long fight against Communist China. Ering said there were no political differences in Arunachal Pradesh between the Congress Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party on fighting Communist China together.

India needs to instill fear in the minds of Communist China if it has to achieve equilibrium in the bilateral relationship, Congress Party leader Dr Abhishek Singhvi said at the same webinar, calling for a comprehensive, aggressive change in India’s policy on China, against the Ladakh conflict backdrop.

Advocating a three-pronged shift in India’s strategy vis-à-vis Communist China, Dr Singhvi said New Delhi has to invest in building military capability, diplomatic heft by aligning with like-minded groupings such as Quad, and inflict economic injury to China, all to instill fear in Communist China’s mind towards  its Asian neighbour.

He also called for a change in the mindset of the Indian bureaucracy and diplomats in providing strong, deft and resolute handling of the Chinese challenge on all fronts, be it geopolitical, economic or military.

The senior advocate in the Supreme Court was forthright in his assessment that India needs “to do more and talk less” on China and the challenges posed by the northern neighbour.

 “Quad is a very important formation that is now being reformulated and reconfigured, and it should be taken towards consistency.”

Strongly proposing that India should work towards leveraging its ties with Tibet and Taiwan, the Indian parliamentarian said the divinity and glory of His Holiness the Dalai Lama needs to be given the right place that he deserves in India, and New Delhi must unhesitatingly enhance diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

Dr. Singhvi concluded by saying, “Today, China is not the problem, but the Chinese Communist Party is. More than the party, Xi Jinping is the problem.”

World Uyghur Congress director for China Affairs Ilshat H. Kokbore, in his presentation, highlighted the human rights abuses by China on the minority Uighur community in East Turkestan.

Ilshat said no other Muslim nation, be it the Turkic countries or others have raised a voice against Uighur genocide and their plight. “Pakistan is the worst country. When Imran Khan was confronted by a journalist on Uighurs, he ignored the issue, and said that he does not know about the Uighurs.”

He said India can play an important role in the Muslim world and in Central Asia. “You are exposing the reality. Give us more support and opportunity to present ourselves in the media and civil society.’

Dr Avinash Godbole, a professor at the O. P. Jindal Global University at Sonepat, said Xi Jinping’s rise to power, the press conferences by the Premier and the Foreign minister of China are attacking - which need to be noted. “China has started to believe that it is going to be at the forefront of the new world order, and it will lead the world through technology.”

Dr. Godbole also highlighted the need to strengthen our strategic communication. “We have to have a similarity of tone in different locations to send a coherent strong message. The best foreign policy is 10 per cent economic growth. India should try to bring the marginalised communities in the economic mainstream,” he concluded.

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