Summer Brings Renewed Vigilance on Disputed China-India Frontier in Himalayas

SHILLONG, India — As the snow melts in the Himalayas, winter’s natural barrier comes down and it becomes the task of men, mules and machines of the Indian army to take up a long summer vigil on the disputed frontier with China.

Last summer, the world’s two most populous nations massed 300,000 troops along their common frontier after trading charges of border violations.

“This summer, we are leaving nothing to chance after last year’s experience,” said an army officer in the garrison town of Shillong in northeastern India.

Starting in May, the “dormant” status of the 105,000 Indian soldiers stationed on the frontier in Arunachal Pradesh state was upgraded to “live,” the officer said. This means that the troops can be called to combat on short notice.

“It does not mean we are preparing for a war or itching for it, but this is the price we have to pay to keep the Chinese dragon away,” said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

India and China fought a border war in 1962; their relations have remained strained. China claims 34,750 square miles of Indian land that covers the entire state of Arunachal Pradesh.

India not only rejects the Chinese claim to the state but says Beijing captured 14,000 square miles of northwestern Kashmir state during the 1962 war.

China has offered to give up its claim to Arunachal Pradesh if India recognizes Beijing’s sovereignty over areas of Kashmir. But in eight rounds of talks that began in December, 1981, India has refused the Chinese offer, claiming both areas belong to India.

An Indian reporter for the Associated Press recently toured the northeastern states, which are off-limits to foreigners, to see the Indian army’s preparedness.

Long military convoys moved regularly from the central command base of Tezpur in Assam state to border areas in neighboring Arunachal Pradesh. Trucks towed tarpaulin-covered field guns. Hundreds of mules hauled rations and artillery through terrain so rugged that India has not been able to build roads.

In the last few months, India has sent two divisions, 30,000 soldiers in all, to Arunachal Pradesh to reinforce 75,000 troops already stationed on the frontier.

An additional 60,000 soldiers are garrisoned within about 300 miles of the frontier.

The Indian air force has up to 160 interceptors, 55 to 60 deep-penetration aircraft and 35 to 40 bombers in the region.

“Our military presence in the eastern sector is enough to counter any Chinese military adventures,” a senior Defense Ministry official in New Delhi said.

A Chinese diplomat in New Delhi said the Indians exaggerate the so-called Chinese threat.

“We have neither the intention nor the need to push Indian troops back. We are happy where we are,” the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

But Brig. R. S. Virk, who retired from the Indian army last year, said in an interview in Assam: “The whole exercise is more of a shadow boxing than real military necessity.

“There is nothing to gain in the Godforsaken land. Not even a blade of grass grows there.”

The border dispute between China and India stems from a line drawn on a map in 1914 by Sir Henry McMahon, foreign secretary of British colonial India.

India accepts the line--or its interpretation of it. China does not.

The McMahon Line was drawn with a thick red pencil. On the map, the line covers, in breadth, 4 to 5 miles in actual territory.

Border tension in the area started in May, 1986, with reports that China had moved in troops and built a helipad in the Sumdrong Chu Valley. The valley lies one to two miles south of the McMahon Line, according to India, and north of it, according to China.

In April, 1987, Indian troops advanced close to Chinese soldiers. The Indians said they spotted intruding Chinese patrols in four areas claimed by India. China rejected the Indian report and accused India of setting up seven lookout posts north of the line.