Border dispute with China remains a challenge: CDS Gen Anil Chauhan

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Anil Chauhan on Monday said that unsettled border disputes with China will continue to remain the most formidable challenge that India will face in the foreseeable future.
The CDS made the comments while speaking on the ‘Strategic outlook of India and the future role of the Indian Air Force in combat ’ during inaugural address on conclave entitled ‘Rise of China and its implications for the world’ organised by the department of strategic studies, Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) as part of its ongoing third strategic and security dialogue.
The event was held in association with the Centre for China Analysis and Strategy, New Delhi and Centre for Advanced Strategic Studies, New Delhi.
He said that the armed forces need to maintain legitimacy of claims during peacetime on the disputed border with China.
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“This will require very astute handling of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on all the friction points to be dealt with calibrated firmness and the both sides must operate on agreed rules of engagement,” he said.
CDS Chauhan cautioned that like all disputed borders, there will be a tendency by the adversary to create new facts or markers like toponymy or cartographic aggressions to create a new narrative.
“It will have to be countered collectively by all of us at all levels including academicians, strategists, thinkers, students,” he said.
The CDS said that, “Instability in the immediate and extended neighbourhood has to be seen in the light that India needs to expand its footprint to cover the crucial gaps where the other people come and fill in. In terms of its long term security interest, they play a Chinese checker game of strategy in India’s backyard.”
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“India also aspires and must become the first responder and security partner in the Indian Ocean Region and must increase its influence in the Indian Ocean littoral beyond traditional realms,” he said.
Explaining about the changing global geopolitical scenario, CDS Gen Chauhan said that while some analysts may say that we are entering into an era of new cold war but others believe that the world order is entering an era of global disorder.
“The emergence of new geopolitical actors and proliferation of asymmetric threats blur the traditional boundaries between peace and war. The existing geopolitical uncertainty needs reassessment of strategic and tactical perspectives,” he said.
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Amongst the others who spoke on the occasion were Jayadeva Ranade , president, Centre for China Analysis and Strategy and Prof Vijay Khare, dean faculty of humanities and senior professor and head of department of defence and strategic studies, SPPU.