Resolution of LAC is a complex issue, but there can be no excuse why we have not been able to resolve our border with Myanmar and Bangladesh, demarcated it, and established effective measures to guard against illegal immigration, smuggling of narcotics, arms and fake currency.

Over the last decade, government apathy towards border defence resulted reportedly in loss of territory, impression of India went from soft to pulp and illegal infiltration increased considerably, besides serious cross border incidents both along the LoC and LAC. The 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attackers came unchecked by sea. So, the decade witnessed intrusions by China, Pakistani army going berserk (cross border raids, beheadings and ceasefire violations), Bangladesh firing across the border, Iran arresting our merchant ship, Prachanda caroling “ultimate fight will be with Indian Army”, a belligerent Maldives, Sri Lanka and Pakistan arresting our fishermen, and even Myanmar intruding into Indian territory.

Along the LAC, development of our border infrastructure has remained woefully inadequate despite the Border Roads Organisation being directly under the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Never a need was felt by the Centre to accord operational priority against stonewalling by states on mundane grounds like treecutting, nor was allotment of adequate resources and monitoring done. Of the overall 73 strategic roads planned, only 17 have been completed to date.

There is little change to the shocking revelations made by the Standing Committee of Defence in February 2014: only one out of 27 ITBP roads have been completed; detailed project report for 18 roads have not even been prepared: deadline for completion of all 27 roads range from March to October 2014; 14 strategic railway lines proposed by MoD in 2010 and 2012 along the China border are still on paper; after a three-year delay, contracts for six advanced landing grounds in Arunachal Pradesh have been awarded; no direct response from MoD pinpointing what difficulties were faced on account of poor infrastructure. Since we have not developed our border infrastructure and China has done so intimately, China is using this communication infrastructure not only to maintain own troops but also to shower largesse (rations, kerosene, money) to the sparse population on the Indian side, who ironically are grossly ignored by our administration. Chinese are doing so for intimidation (as relevant), perception management, smuggling and developing contacts for infiltration and special operations. Indications of this have been available in Ladakh, East Sikkim and Arunachal but our system remains paralysed.

Then is the issue of loss of territory to China though former Defence Minister A.K. Antony told Parliament not an inch had been lost. But the same Defence Minister also lied in saying that terrorists wearing Pakistani army uniforms beheaded our soldiers – but soon had to eat crow. Significantly, the Shyam Saran report submitted to the government on August 10, 2013, reportedly talked about some 654 sq km territory surrendered to China over the years, over and above Aksai Chin and Shaksgam. Then we have former Ambassador P. Stopden who hails from Ladakh and is categorical that over 400 sq km territory has been lost to China over the years in Eastern Ladakh alone. There was also the case of the 19-km-deep intrusion in Depsang, which even MEA acknowledged was far beyond the Chinese claim of LAC, and yet the Chinese withdrew only after we agreed to dismantle our cameras at Chumar where too the Chinese are claiming some 85 sq km of our territory.

There have been many intrusions in the past that have been hushed up and similar may have been the case in the eastern theatre. The previous dispensation even acquiesced to Chinese in not hosting the Tricolor in open at Demchhok in Eastern Ladakh and stopping development work in border village Koyul in Leh. Our responses along the LAC are slow not only because of poor road communications but also because of poor surveillance and signal communications, as compared to the Chinese. On top of this Central Armed Police Forces have been deployed in sensitive areas, without putting them under command the local army unit or formation, resulting in disjointed response.

Resolution of LAC is a complex issue, but there can be no excuse why we have not been able to resolve our border with Myanmar and Bangladesh, demarcated it, and established effective measures to guard against illegal immigration (we already had some 40 lakh Rohangiyas come through Bangladesh and Myanmar by 2010), smuggling of narcotics, arms and fake currency. Swami Vivekananda had said, “We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the power to make ourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own past actions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in future can be produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act.” The new government needs a lot of catching up to do to rectify the neglect and follies of the last decade.