India asks China to stop PoK projects

[ViruRulez]

NEW DELHI: After being bombarded by China on Arunachal Pradesh, India on Wednesday turned the tables on China. Reacting to Chinese president Hu Jintao's promise to the Pak PM, the MEA, in an uncharacteristically sharp riposte, ticked off the Chinese for working on projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). During a meeting with Pakistan PM Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday, the Chinese president committed Chinese assistance to a project to upgrade the Karakoram highway and the Neelam-Jhelum hydroelectric project in PoK. On Wednesday, MEA spokesperson Vishnu Prakash asked China to stop activities in areas illegally occupied by Pakistan. In a statement, he said, "Pakistan is in illegal possession of parts of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir since 1947. The Chinese side is fully aware of India's position and our concerns about Chinese activities in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. We hope that the Chinese side will take a long term view of the India-China relations, and cease such activities in areas illegally occupied by Pakistan." The Indian statement is a direct response to China's provocative statement on Arunachal on Tuesday. But, in a different way, it exposed China's own activities in `disputed' territories and its futile attempts at roiling these issues. As a senior official explained, "Harsh statements will not change the position on the ground. But they certainly create problems in the atmosphere." The statement was also India's way of reminding the Chinese that they were in illegal possession of Indian territory as well, courtesy Pakistan, and signalling its intent to hit back. In fact, the government which had taken provocations from the Chinese in stride seemed to be shifting into aggresive gears. So, home minister P Chidambaram said in Srinagar that India would issue only employment visas to the Chinese, no longer business visas, and this had been conveyed to the Chinese government. "Chinese workers can come to India only on employment visa, no more on business visas," he told journalists. "We are going to issue employment visas only to highly skilled workers and it does not apply only to Chinese workers but to other countries as well. We are not going to issue any visas to unskilled and semi-skilled workers as we have plenty of them in India," the home minister said. The Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh remains on track, he's scheduled to visit Arunachal Pradesh to open a hospital in the second week of November. The US president Barack Obama, in a uniquely weak-kneed gesture, refused to meet the Dalai Lama before his meeting with the Chinese leadership in November. The Dalai Lama's visit will expectedly enrage the Chinese, but India says it can now withstand Chinese pressure on these issues.

Good job. Rip their ass if they piss us. Indian PM and Chinese PM is expected to meet later this month and hope both the countries clarify these things so that there are no misunderstandings (or intended pissing off activities by the Chinese) in the future. :hatsoff: