NEW DELHI: China is resorting to “my way or no way” policies but India stood firm in preventing a change in the status quo on its northern borders in eastern Ladakh and garnered international support for it, said chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat on Thursday.
Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue, General Rawat said China feels “it has arrived” on the world stage because of its “superior” armed forces, equipped with “advanced and disruptive technologies” that can paralyse an adversary’s strategic systems as well as energy, banking, transport and communication grids.
“They (Chinese) feel by doing a little bit of shove-and-push, they will be able to compel nations to give into their demands. But India has stood firm on its northern borders and we have proven that we will not get pushed,” he said.
The international community has come to India’s support by affirming that every country must follow the international rules-based order, without seeking to unilaterally alter the status quo.
“China tried to change the status quo... They thought that India will succumb to the pressures that they have been putting on us because of the technological advantage that they have. But that did not happen,” said the CDS.
There has been no overall de-escalation in the year-long military confrontation in eastern Ladakh till now, with China refusing to even complete the stalled troop disengagement at Gogra, Hot Springs and Demchok.
At the Raisina Dialogue, chief of staff of the Japanese Self Defence Forces General Koji Yamazaki also slammed China’s attempts to unilaterally change the status quo in areas like the Taiwan Strait as well as the East and South China Seas. Australian chief of defence forces General Angus Campbell said, “(China’s) Grey zone tactics are a way to nibble away at territory. We see this in the South China Sea. It is very challenging to respond without breaching the line that leads to open conflict.”