Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah has made a strong pitch for an early demarcation of the Indo-China border in the Ladakh region.
Expressing deep concern at the sharp fall of tourism, which is the lifeline of the Ladakh economy, as a consequence of the recent Chinese incursion, Mr Abdullah said, “It is no secret that tourism in Ladakh has been affected by the recent (Chinese) incursions.”
“There is no demarcated Line of Actual Control. But having said that, I don’t know in whose interest it is that you (China) come across, set up camps and take so long to go back,” the chief minister pointed out.
Mr Abdullah regretted that the Chinese are making it difficult to carry on development work on the Indian side but work on their side was continuing apace. “Every time we have tried to do some development work in our region, the Chinese have objected even though on that side of the Line of Actual Control, a lot of development work is going on,” he said.
Obviously unhappy with New Delhi’s approach to the handling of the recent incursion of Chinese troops in the Daulat Beg Oldi sector of Ladakh, Omar did not mince words when he said, “Just imagine if Pakistani forces had come 19 kms inside the LoC and set up camps. How would we have reacted? I understand that comparing our relationship with Pakistan and comparing it with China is like comparing chalk and cheese. It is completely different.
Commenting on the return of Nawaz Sharif to power, he said “obviously it is better to have a known leader one than an unknown one.”