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Row between India and China after air passenger detained · DEEP INSIGHT

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Global News podcast on YouTube, where we
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  Speaker 1: go behind the headlines of a story and tell you
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  Speaker 1: why it really matters. On this episode, we discuss why
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  Speaker 1: one woman's detention in Shanghai has filled a diplomatic route
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  Speaker 1: between Beijing and Delhi. Pemamong John Thong Doc, an Indian
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  Speaker 1: citizen living in the UK, was detained by immigration officials
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  Speaker 1: while traveling from London to Japan via Shanghai last Friday
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  Speaker 1: because her passport lists her birthplace as the northeastern Indian
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  Speaker 1: state of Aruncheal Pradesh. China disputes India's claim over the
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  Speaker 1: region and considers Ronchel its territory, calling it south to
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  Speaker 1: bet Now, this is something India firmly rejects. So why
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  Speaker 1: has this area been a subject of such a dispute
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  Speaker 1: between two of Asia's biggest countries and how likely is
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  Speaker 1: it that it's going to be resolved going forward? To
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  Speaker 1: discuss this, I'm joined by our South Asia regional expert
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  Speaker 1: Unbaras and Ethirajan who joins me down the line. So,
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  Speaker 1: Unbaras and just give us a bit of background in
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  Speaker 1: context as to what's happened.
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  Speaker 2: Now this Indian woman, she traveled to Japan via Shanghai
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  Speaker 2: last Friday, and mister Thong doc says that she was
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  Speaker 2: detained at Shanghai airport without any reason and the birthplace
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  Speaker 2: mentioned in the passport was Arunachal Pradesh. It is a
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  Speaker 2: northeastern state of India and this has been an issue
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  Speaker 2: going on between China and India for decades. And as
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  Speaker 2: you said, India claims er Natchal Pradesh state. It is
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  Speaker 2: in Indian control, but China has also been making claims
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  Speaker 2: over this territory and the two countries fought a brief
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  Speaker 2: war in nineteen sixty two. Now this has triggered a
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  Speaker 2: diplomatic row between Delhi and Beijing because this made headlines
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  Speaker 2: across India and also on social media. And mister Thong
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  Speaker 2: doc says that she was detained for several hours and
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  Speaker 2: then after the Indian consular officials came to the airport
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  Speaker 2: to the Chinese officials, then she was allowed to travel.
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  Speaker 2: Now China caused this as South Tibet, and India says
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  Speaker 2: that it has always been an Indian territory and this
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  Speaker 2: was all based on nineteen fourteen. During the colonial period,
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  Speaker 2: there was a line drawn. It's called matt Mahon line
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  Speaker 2: and which China doesn't accept. Now this is now triggered
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  Speaker 2: another rub because the two countries have been having very
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  Speaker 2: tense relations from twenty to twenty when there was a
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  Speaker 2: class in the La Dakh region and things started improving
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  Speaker 2: for the past here when both countries were trying to
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  Speaker 2: reset relations. Now, the Indian Foreign Ministry it took strong
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  Speaker 2: objection to the detention of Miss Thong doc saying that
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  Speaker 2: you know, the Chinese authorities have still not been able
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  Speaker 2: to explain their actions which are in violation of several
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  Speaker 2: conventions governing international travel. And the Foreign Ministry spokesperson discrib
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  Speaker 2: the detention as arbitrary and said the issue had been
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  Speaker 2: taken up strongly with China. At the same time, the
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  Speaker 2: Chinese Foreign Ministry officials are saying that they deny having
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  Speaker 2: detained her and they say that local laws and regulations
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  Speaker 2: were followed. And at the same time they also say
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  Speaker 2: China never accepted the illegal Arnauchial Pradesh because they say
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  Speaker 2: it is part of China, so they claim the whole
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  Speaker 2: of Arnachal Pradesh as part of China. So this is
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  Speaker 2: triggered another round of diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
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  Speaker 1: San Bras, and this is obviously a region which has
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  Speaker 1: been disputed for quite some time. You know it well,
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  Speaker 1: you've actually visited it before. So what did you see
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  Speaker 1: when you were there? And just talk to us about
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  Speaker 1: why it's such a key area in that particular region.
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  Speaker 2: Now we have to understand this in this context of
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  Speaker 2: broader India China border tensions and border dispute. India and China,
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  Speaker 2: they are the big Asian powers. They shared a border
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  Speaker 2: of more than three thousand, four hundred kilometers starting from
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  Speaker 2: in the Ladark region in the Himalayas, going all the
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  Speaker 2: way up to Aronachil Pradesh close to meyan Maar, and
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  Speaker 2: most of it is undemarketed and they have overlapping territorial claims.
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  Speaker 2: So this has led to a border frictions over the years.
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  Speaker 2: As I said earlier, there was even a brief border
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  Speaker 2: war in nineteen sixty two in which China defeated India
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  Speaker 2: and then they unilaterally pulled out. So since then the
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  Speaker 2: both sides have held various rounds of negotiations. If I
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  Speaker 2: can recollect in nineteen ninety six, one of the talks
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  Speaker 2: I was covering in Delhi. So they had like for
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  Speaker 2: more than thirty years. I've been following these India China relations,
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  Speaker 2: but the economic growth and both countries were focusing, so
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  Speaker 2: the border issue was put at the back burner for
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  Speaker 2: nearly twenty five years, and then it all fled up
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  Speaker 2: in tw twenty twenty June in the Ladakh region in
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  Speaker 2: the northern part of India, where a clash between the
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  Speaker 2: two sides killed about twenty Indian soldiers and four Chinese
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  Speaker 2: troops that triggered massive tensions both sides. A mastered troops.
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  Speaker 2: More than fifty thousand troops on both sides were deployed
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  Speaker 2: and the tensions were running high, and they also moved
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  Speaker 2: heavy weapons along the border. Now, in the past one
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  Speaker 2: year they have been talking and there were several rounds
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  Speaker 2: of talks between the two sides and the border patrolling
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  Speaker 2: have resumed. They say that they have reached an understanding,
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  Speaker 2: but still the troops are there on both sides an
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  Speaker 2: eyeball to eyeball situation. For example, in Aaronauchial Pradesh, these
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  Speaker 2: border posts can be like a bit less than one
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  Speaker 2: hundred to few hundred meters, so they are in an
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  Speaker 2: eyeball to eyeball situation and I was in Arnuchial Pradesh
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  Speaker 2: a couple of years ago. The state as a regional
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  Speaker 2: government and they are very much part of India. And
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  Speaker 2: whereas you just go across the border post that is
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  Speaker 2: Tibet where Chinese have a master troops and they say
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  Speaker 2: that you know, this is part of the southern Tibet.
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  Speaker 2: So this has been an issue. But what the both
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  Speaker 2: countries are saying is that okay, you know, this is
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  Speaker 2: a long running dispute. This has to go through various
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  Speaker 2: discussions and diplomatic level talks. They cannot be resolved now.
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  Speaker 2: This is something for the future. So the people there,
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  Speaker 2: they are normally getting along with their lives. But you
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  Speaker 2: also see a lot of developmental work and both sites
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  Speaker 2: are building what they call border villages alonger and natural
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  Speaker 2: Pradesh India as well as China, and some of the
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  Speaker 2: areas are very remote. One of the areas i went
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  Speaker 2: was Chummigyatsey Holy Waterfalls. This is very important for Buddhist
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  Speaker 2: It considers your very significant religious site and it was
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  Speaker 2: just on the border between India and China, cross the
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  Speaker 2: MacMahon line. So you always see various troop movements, army
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  Speaker 2: trucks going on. You have several army camps Indian army
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  Speaker 2: camps in these areas. But then people there, when I
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  Speaker 2: speak to them, they were getting along despite this massive
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  Speaker 2: presence of two of their biggest armies, people getting along
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  Speaker 2: with their regular lives. And it is also very inhospitable territory.
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  Speaker 2: Some of the areas are more than thirteen fifteen thousand
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  Speaker 2: feet and so this has been a major bone of
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  Speaker 2: contention between India and China. So this women's experience has
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  Speaker 2: brought light once again how a smaller issue can trigger
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  Speaker 2: even a diplomatic route sombrasa.
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  Speaker 1: Let's finish off with the relationship between China and India.
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  Speaker 1: The two leaders have seemed to get along when they've
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  Speaker 1: met up in person. Recently, there seems to be more
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  Speaker 1: air traffic flow between the two countries, is why airport's
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  Speaker 1: opening up. How likely is this spat going to continue
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  Speaker 1: for and can this be resolved quickly because it seems
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  Speaker 1: as though the two countries are getting along a bit
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  Speaker 1: better now.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, this came as a bit of a surprise for
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  Speaker 2: many people because for the past two years, both governments
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  Speaker 2: have been taking concrete steps to restore twice. We should
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  Speaker 2: not forget that China is one of the biggest trading
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  Speaker 2: partners of India. Several Indian factories, Indian manufacturers that depend
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  Speaker 2: on Chinese goods. And at the same time, what we
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  Speaker 2: are looking at is step by step that are improving relations.
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  Speaker 2: They realize that you know, there's a conflict, is not
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  Speaker 2: a way to go around. That is what both leaders
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  Speaker 2: have been saying. Now. What they want is to restore
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  Speaker 2: relations and that's why you see the flight services assuming
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  Speaker 2: But this can be solved diplomatically, but it depends on
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  Speaker 2: how the two countries want to take this forward.
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  Speaker 1: Rassillethraj and our South Asia Regional expert, thank you so
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  Speaker 1: much for your time. If you enjoy this story or
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