PSIR 4 IAS

Kalapani Issue — Rakesh Sood (Former Diplomat) Kalapani, a patch of land near the India­Nepal border, close to the Lipulekh Pass on the India­ China border, which is one of the approved points for border trade and the route for the Kailash­Man­ sarovar yatra in Tibet. India inherited the boundary with Nepal, established between Nepal and the East India Company in the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816. Kali river constituted the boundary, and the territory to its east was Nepal. The dispute relates to the origin of Kali. The early British survey maps identified the north­west stream, Kuti Yangti, from Limpiyadhura as the origin, but after 1857 changed the alignment to Lipu Gad, and in 1879 to Pankha Gad, the north­east streams, thus defining the origin as just below Kalapani. Nepal ac­cepted it. The Maoist revolution in China in 1949, followed by the takeover of Tibet, created deep misgivings in Nepal, and India was ‘invited’ to set up 18 border posts along the Nepal­Tibet border. The western­ ...

A former intelligence chief once said that the problem with India’s neighbourhood policy is that India wants to be seen as the nice, cuddly, harmless giant who is more loved than feared by its neighbours . But this policy runs counter to the iron law of international politics that there is no love without fear. A harmless giant who anyone can finger without fear of any adverse consequences is worth nothing to no one. In India’s case, it becomes a bit of a double whammy because not only does crossing the giants path not cause any dread, there is also no expectation of the giant pouring in goodies to win over the love and admiration of its neighbours.   As a result, in recent years there has been a rising trend among some of India’s neighbours to strike deals or do things without as much as even considering how this will be taken by India, much less the repercussions of their moves on relations with India. The ongoing border spat with Nepal needs to be viewed in the larger context of...

There is still a lot of difficulty in understanding what is happening on the Sino-Indian border because of patchy and contradictory reporting, mostly based on sources in New Delhi  Thus any analysis has necessarily to be quite preliminary and tentative.  As of today, citing government sources, one media report  said , “there are close to 10,000 soldiers of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Indian territory.”  It should be noted though that  other reports  have suggested  fewer numbers . The current series of incidents started on 5 May, when around 250 Indian and Chinese military personnel clashed at Pangong Tso, a large lake in eastern Ladakh region.  These were reportedly  violent clashes , injuring several soldiers on both sides.  Quoting a senior bureaucrat, one Indian media report  said  that some Indian troops were detained, but then released. But the Indian Army promptly  denied  this, though the...

Expert's/Scholar's views Shyam Saran  —The present government has invested heavily in building a stronger strategic partnership with the US. This was based on the assumption that even with its geopolitical pre-dominance diminished, the US remained  a formidable military power  and  an unmatched source of technological innovation and excellence . It s hared India’s interest in preventing a China-dominated Asia and the world . It would, therefore, be an indispensable partner in India’s trajectory towards great power status. Trump’s preoccupations at home mean that the US will be less engaged with regional and global issues and this adds another layer of complexity in dealing with the China challenge and in navigating an even more treacherous international landscape. However, the strengths of the US are likely to be enduring and India should not dilute the relationship because of immediate concerns such as the issue of visas to our IT professionals. FS S Jaishankar ...