There is a growing consensus in the highest echelons of the government that India and China continue to be locked in a hitherto unprecedented standoff – for almost eight weeks now – at multiple points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) border.
After the June 15 incident, in which at least 20 jawans were killed during a violent face-off with Chinese troops at Galwan Valley in Ladakh, several rounds of military-level to diplomatic talks have been held between the two nations to ease down the tension in the region. However, reports stated that amid the backdrop of talks, China significantly ramped up its military presence in the area and several other fiction points in eastern Ladakh.
National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval had in 2013 informed that China along with Pakistan has been spying against India, besides supplying arms to militant organizations in the northeast.
In an article titled ‘Chinese Intelligence: From a Party Outfit to Cyber Warriors’, former Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief Doval has described how Chinese spies are active in several countries including India and are spying for China in a planned manner. At the time when Doval wrote this article, he was associated with Delhi’s Think Tank Vivekananda International Foundation. A year later, the NDA government in the Centre handed him the responsibility of the NSA.
As per Doval, China had intensified the espionage activities against India after Dalai Lama along with his 80,000 followers took refuge in India in 1959. Simultaneously, China also started building a road on NH-219 connecting Lhasa and Jinjiang in the Aksai Chin area.
On November 21, 1959, Karam Singh, who was posted as Deputy Central Intelligence Agency in the IB, lost his life in a violent clash with Chinese soldiers.
According to Doval, Indian intelligence agencies had started providing information about Chinese activities to the government, which, however, did not pay much attention to the inputs then.
In 2013, a Chinese army spy, identified as Pema Tsering, was arrested from Himachal Pradesh’s Dharamshala, for spying on Dalai Lama. Doval also said that Chinese spies have been found involved in a conspiracy against India by colluding with political and defence intelligence and also collaborating with northeast militant organizations for anti-India activities.
On January 18, 2011, a female Chinese spy, Wang Qing, was arrested from Nagaland. She was found to have held a secret meeting with Nagaland militant group T Muivah. India had then lodged an official protest with China on this matter.
According to Doval, Chinese intelligence agencies are very active against India and also provide arms and ammo, fund and training to militant groups in India. In 1966, a group of 300 Naga militants, who were trained in using arms in Yunan province in China, were sent to India. Muivah and Isak Swu, leaders of Naga militants, also included in the group, who had brought huge quantities of weapons from China, to be used against India.
According to Doval, the practice continues even now.
The report stated that in the last several years, China conspired to destablize the government in the Centre on number of occasions. And despite regular information, the government either ignored or refrained from saying anything on it.
A major revelation on the conspiracy against India by China was once again revealed in 2010 when northeast militant Anthony Shimray, who had returned from Nepal, was apprehended by Indian security agencies. Doval said that during the interrogation, Shimray disclosed that he was tasked to send a large consignment of AK 47s, M16 rifles, machine guns, sniper rifles, and rocket launchers among other arms and ammunition from China to India.
These weapons were to be sent from China’s Beihei through an agent from Bangkok to Bangladesh’s Cax Bazaar. From there, the weapons were to be made available to militant groups of northeast.
While disclosing China’s conspiracy against India, Doval claimed that Beijing had also been taking help from Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI against India.