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India should heed lessons from history: Experts

August 11, 2017

BEIJING, Aug 11 (INP) Chinese experts have slammed Indian defense minister’s “irresponsible remarks,” noting that India should heed lessons from history in a correct way and should stop its trespassing into China’s territory. India’s Defense Minister Arun Jaitley said on Aug. 9 that India had “learnt a lesson” from the 1962 war with China, adding that the Indian armed forces are strong enough to meet any “challenge to the country’s security.” Jaitley’s remarks were made amid escalating tensions between China and India, as the latter has illegally stayed in China’s territory for almost two months, with no signs of withdrawing so far. This is not the first time that Indian officials have implied to use armed forces to settle the two nation’s recent conflicts. According to the Indian media’s report, Indian Army Chief Bipin Rawat said on Jun. 8 that India is prepared for a “two and a half front war” against China, Pakistan, and its internal security threats. In response to the remarks, Zhou Gang, a former Chinese ambassador to India, told People’s Daily Online that India has clearly not learnt any valuable lessons from history, criticizing Indian authorities for infusing its public with distorted information. Guan Peifeng, an associate professor from the China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies at Wuhan University, said India’s trespassing into Chinese territory is groundless and illegal, noting that the country has been holding hegemonic and colonial attitudes to deal with border disputes with other nations since it gained its independence. Meanwhile Chinese Foreign Ministry has dismissed a media report that China offered to reposition its troops to resolve the tension with India in the Donglang (Doklam) area. The Spokesperson's Office told China Daily on Thursday that the report is not true. "China will not trade its territorial sovereignty under any circumstances," it said. "China's position on solving this incident is clear and firm. India must immediately and unconditionally withdraw all its trespassing troops and equipment back to the Indian side of the border," the office said in a statement. Zhao Xiaozhuo, a researcher at the PLA Academy of Military Science, said China could never accept India's "totally unreasonable" demand. INP/AH