Map mischief creates furore in India
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
[THINK: ISRAEL-PA-MUSLIMS]
Published: Nov. 7, 2011 at 6:03 AM
NEW DELHI, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- New Delhi lodged a diplomatic protest with China
after a map used in a commercial presentation showed sections of northern
India as part of China.
The map was in a brochure produced by the Chinese company Tebian Electric
Apparatus and was noticed by journalists at a media presentation for the
company's investments in China.
The company is part of the business delegation from the Muslim-majority
Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China looking for two-way investment
opportunities, the Economic Times of India said.
TBEA, a power transformer maker, was announcing a $400 million investment in
the western Indian state of Gujarat. At the presentation was Chinese
Ambassador to India Zhang Yan and several other senior Chinese officials.
The map depicted the state of Arunachal Pradesh and parts of the state Jammu
and Kashmir as Chinese territory -- a particularly sensitive issue for both
countries because of ongoing talks to settle frontiers in the remote and
mountainous areas. India and China share more than 2,000 miles of border.
Journalists at the event noticed the map and questioned the ambassador who
said it was only "a technical" but that he would look into it, a report by
The Times of India said.
However, after persistent questioning, the ambassador told a reporter to
"shut up" and that he would look into how the error happened. "We are
working for friendlier ties with India ... this will not help," he said.
The journalist wasn't easily put off. "This is not China... it is India," he
told the ambassador. "We have full freedom here. How can you ask a
journalist to shut up if he is asking you something?"
Later, Zhang said: "This is a technical issue. We handle these issues. Your
joint secretary has mentioned it and I have said that we will look into
this. I have talked to our people."
Gautam Bambawale, joint secretary in charge of China in the Indian External
Affairs Ministry, said he conveyed his objections to the Chinese ambassador.
Bambawale also said the Chinese ambassador reassured him that TBEA's map was
not a reflection of Beijing's stance on territorial issues.
The diplomatic fury comes as the two countries are to sit down in New Delhi
at the end of the month for the next round of boundary talks -- the latest
after 14 such meetings.
Similar meetings have produced few concrete results to finalize a border
within the undemarcated Line of Actual Control.
But the November gathering is expected to put the final touches to an agreed
border incident monitoring and investigation organization, a report by IBN,
an Indian television broadcaster owned by Global Broadcast News, said.
The organization would include diplomats from India's External Affairs
Ministry, senior military heads at the Department of Defense and
representatives of paramilitary forces in the disputed areas.
Other contentious border issues are likely will be on the table when the
countries meet, IBN said. These include India's deal with Vietnam for
exploration in the Chinese-claimed South China Sea.
Ownership of even the smallest uninhabitable islands is important because of
suspected oil and gas resources in the surrounding seabed, as well as access
to plentiful fish stocks.
A major dispute is control of the Spratly Islands. Apart from China and
Vietnam, the Spratly Islands, or some of them, are claimed by Taiwan,
Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines.
Other disputed islands are the Scarborough Shoal off the west coast of the
Philippines and the Paracels, the most northerly group of islands and the
ones closest to China.
In early May China said it will beef up marine patrols by at least 10
percent in the face of what it claimed were increasing incursions into its
territorial waters. By the end of the year, around 1,000 recruits will be
added to the 9,000 already employed by China's marine service, Beijing said.
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