"Arunachal is an integral part of India," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters in New Delhi, a day after Chinese Ambassador Sun Yuxi claimed that the east Indian state was "Chinese territory".
With India's political wheel turning full circle this year, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval will negotiate from an expanding diplomatic space, writes Ajai Shukla
'Signals without strength will serve little purpose. Strength can come only from concrete action on the ground to strengthen our intelligence and military-related capabilities in Arunachal Pradesh.'
'India's military posture has become significantly stronger than China's on the 3,500-kilometre Line of Actual Control.' 'This is enhancing confrontation between the two sides,' points out Ajai Shukla.
China's proverbial capacity to negotiate through the art of hard bargaining, which is subtle, polished and vague, has intrigued Indians once again
'It is pure luck that we did not have any body bags, otherwise things could have been nasty.'
"In our position, the whole of the state of Arunachal Pradesh is Chinese territory. And Tawang is only one of the places in it. We are claiming all of that. That is our position," Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Yuxi said.
'We should not minimise the seriousness of Chinese encroachments because their perception is different.' 'Nor should we fall into the trap of accepting so-called 'buffer zones' in areas of overlapping claims. We cannot have buffer zones in our own territory,' asserts Ambassador Shyam Saran, a former foreign secretary.
'Could the Chinese have taken a leaf out of our book?' 'That their unprecedented build-up is their attempt at coercive diplomacy with India?' 'And if so, what is it that they could be expecting as a quid pro quo?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
Was Wang Yi'S visit intended to remind India of 1962, asks Claude Arpi?
'Whenever you roll out: effectiveness is important, operational logistics are important, side effects are important and vaccine hesitancy is important.'
The "caution level" among the troops has also been raised.
In 2005, the Border Road Organisation was asked to construct 73 roads in the strategically important regions along the Sino-India border but there has been huge delay in implementation of the project which has apparently left the army unhappy.
The move was aimed at 'reaffirming China's claim over the state'. China claims the state as 'South Tibet'.
'China is concerned about its impact within Tibet.'
'India is not the India of 1962. We are not carrying that baggage of history anymore.'
The deliberations focused on bringing down tension along the disputed borders and ways to bridge the trust deficit.
Fifteen senior Chinese military officials with their families and guard escorts from the Tibet Autonomous Region will attend the celebrations at the Bumla pass border post near Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh.
Here's a recap of the events from the past 24 hours.
The festival of Rakshabandhan is being celebrated across the country on Thursday.
How about we just say, "top ten of h-u-n-d-r-e-d-s!"?
We should have anticipated it on August 5 last year, when we made the big changes in J&K. Amit Shah left nothing to chance when he told Parliament that 'we will bring back Aksai Chin even at the cost of our lives'. 'Then, there were the new maps, objections to the CPEC going through Indian territory, the weather reports.' A broad territorial status quo had existed in Ladakh-Aksai Chin since 1962. India made its intention to change this public, notes Shekhar Gupta.
The Dalai Lama's Arunachal visit is not likely to derail the relationship but it is enough to signal the Chinese that India is also willing to flash the Tibet/Taiwan card should the need arise, says Sana Hashmi.
Rediff.com's readers share the best of their India travel images. You can share yours too!
Gulf Oil Corporation Ltd, a Hinduja group entity, has set up a joint venture in Indonesia, named PT Gulf Oil Lubricants Indonesia with an investment of $6,12,000.
'The potential of one such LAC engagement going out of control and leading to heavy casualties cannot be ruled out,' warns Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Eighty-two-year Nirmala Kumari, the mother of National Hydroelectric Power Corporation general manger, Anil Kumar Agarwal who was abducted at gunpoint by Bodo militants in Assam, on Friday made a passionate appeal to the abductors to release her son on humanitarian ground.
In the Northeast, while three people died in Assam, two each lost their lives in Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram in rain-related incidents.
'The first time that China alleged the Dalai Lama was 'anti-national' and 'unpatriotic' was after he affirmed that Arunachal Pradesh and Tawang are part of India,' points out former RA&W official Jayadeva Ranade.
The venom and contemptuous sarcasm evident on the army's tweet on the Yeti and my reply has something to do with the intrinsic hatred that a section of the media nurses against the right wing, says Tarun Vijay.
Khandu emerged as the new star on the north eastern horizon when he was elected leader of the Congress in Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday.
Facing a rout in other parts of the country, Congress retained power securing three-fourth majority in the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly snapping up 40 of the 60 seats and leading in two.
Very few today realise that without Brigadier John Dalvi's courage, we would never have known what really happened during those tragic days of October/November 1962, reveals Claude Arpi.
Notwithstanding the strain in ties, the navies of India and China carried out a well coordinated operation to rescue a merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden which was hijacked by Somali pirates on Saturday night.
Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said that the Tibetan spiritual leader's visit to the border state is completely religious and no political motive should be ascribed to it.
The operational alert allows troops to get acclimatised to high altitudes, renovate the bunkers and trenches from which they would fight, break out ammunition, and carry out the coordination needed to fight an integrated defensive battle.
The election campaign finally ended on Friday, May 17. Arindam Majumder reveals what he discovered on the election front on a long rail journey.
Some organisational changes are likely in some of the key army formations.
National Hydroelectric Power Corporation General Manager Anil Kumar Agarwal, who was abducted by the outlawed militants belonging to the National Democratic Front of Bodoland on Saturday while he was on his way to Tezpur in Assam from project site at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, has remained untraced, though police and army have launched an operation to trace him.
The decision to not attend the forum attended by 28 heads of state and 130 national delegations is a clear break from its usual policy of going along with the crowd.
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