Fernandes’ remark on Chinese "intrusion" worries Government

Sources in the PMO say Prime Minister A B Vajpayee ticked off Fernandes for going public on the Chinese “intrusion” into India, by allegedly building a helipad in Arunachal Pradesh.

Officials in the Ministries of External Affairs and Defence are somewhat worried that Fernandes should make these off-the-cuff comments, whether on Pakistan or China, since they may be assumed to be rooted in government policy.

The Defence Minister’s statement on the helipad in Arunachal Pradesh has already been denied by the Prime Minister, who toldjournalists earlier in the week that Fernandes had got his information from the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh and that it may be incorrect.

Sources in the government said they were “unaware” of such an intrusion and certainly didn’t know where such a helipad had been built.

They argued that even if there remained a difference of opinion between India and China on the demarcation of the border, both sides were well aware of each other’s boundary claims. They implied that if such an intrusion had actually occurred, they would have known about it.

Accepting fully that Fernandes had the right to tell his own people at whatever point of time about the “strategic threat” New Delhi faces from Beijing, one view is that Fernandes could have perhaps waited and made his opinion known to the PLA chief when he meets him next week.

Certainly, there doesn’t seem to be a change in India’s China policy despite Fernandes’ comments, even though it is widely accepted in the government that Beijing is, asFernandes told the press, New Delhi’s “main threat.”

But unless New Delhi was ready for a confrontation with Beijing and matched action with words, the sources pointed out, it was futile to make such bombastic statements.