Key Points

In an interview with ANI, Professor Srikanth Kondapalli, Chinese Studies Expert at JNU, said that when the Pahalgam terror attack took place on April 22, in which 26 people were killed, one of the terrorists was carrying a Huawei phone with a Chinese satellite connection.

The terrorist, he said, was messaging back to Pakistan after the Pahalgam attacks and "there is a Chinese role here".

Kondapalli recalled the words of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the way to deal with China.

"Dr. Manmohan Singh mentioned in the parliamentary debate, we should trust China, but we should verify. By intelligence, by information, by cross-border things and see whether they are really, what they're talking is in sync with their actions. So that is necessary," he said.

Kondapalli referred to border standoff with China in eastern Ladakh that started in April-May 2020 and disengagement after prolonged negotiations. Indian and Chinese troops were involved in a violent clash in Galwan during the standoff.

"Since October 31, when we had the disengagement, patrolling and grazing on the border, we have not had de-escalation and de-induction. So on the question of trust, we are circumspect on the Chinese actions on the border. So we have not done the full normalization on the border," he said.

The Chinese Studies expert recalled recent high-level visits to China and said Beijing has later taken made moves which are not congenial for development t of bilateral ties.

He recalled visits of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Vikram Visri, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to China in nearly a year and said these visits have been "followed by balancing act by China".

"For instance, in December, the Chinese announced after Ajit Doval's visit, they announced the bifurcation of Aksai Chin, creating two new counties, which basically means that in future they will put up troops in Aksai Chin in a large number. So that is balancing by China, even though we are trying to normalize. Second, when Vikram Misri went in March this year, they announced a few other things like this, but most concretely after Dr. Jaishankar's visit, they announced the dam construction...opposite to Arunachal Pradesh. It's a USD 169 billion project, the largest project and we have concerns because last year there was an earthquake in Shigatse of nearly 7.9 on Richter scale. So the dam would have huge consequences for the lower riparian states like India and Bangladesh and Southeast Asia," he said.

"But China is not listening to us, which means on your question on trust, the Chinese are not really helping us on these issues of trust building. On April 22, when the Pahalgam terror attack took place, one of the terrorists was carrying a Huawei phone with a Chinese satellite connection, and he was messaging back to Pakistan after the attack. So there is the Chinese role here... The Indian government is in possession of this device," he said.

"The Chinese have supplied satellite images of Pahalgam before the attack. 120-129 slides have been given to the Pakistanis...This is another incident where the Chinese were helping the Pakistani side, despite the counter-terrorism pledge with the Indians, also with the international community in the SCO," he added.

Kondapalli also referred to attempts by Pakistan to get any mention of The Resistance Front (TRF) excluded in the United Nation Security Council after the Pahalgam terror attack.

"The Chinese Ambassador and the Pakistani Ambassador....the name of The Resistance Front was deleted, which took responsibility for the Pahalgam attacks initially twice, but a third time they declined to take responsibility. The fact that they took responsibility first two times indicates their role. In the Tianjin SCO Declaration, Pahalgam was mentioned. However, this was watered down with the mention of the Zafar Express. It suggests then that the Chinese were under pressure from Russia to include the Pahalgam terror attacks, but they were watered down with the Pakistani pressure. So this indicates that India cannot trust China on the terrorism issue," he said.

The Chinese Studies expert also spoke of China's support to Pakistan during Operation Sindioor carried out by India in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.

"China provided again information to the Pakistani Air Force as the Deputy Army Chief mentioned. Also, the Chinese have given the equipment like JF-17, J-10 ..., HQ-9 surface-to-air missile batteries. This is very offensive in nature. And Foreign Minister Wang Yi, after the Pahalgam attack, he said that there should be an impartial inquiry...forgetting for a moment that China never accepted any investigation into the Xinjiang Uyghur insurgency-related incidents or during COVID-19 pandemic they did not allow the WHO delegation to go and visit the blood samples....So it is quite strange."

"To put it in context, after the Pathankot terror attack, the Indian side had invited the Pakistani side to join the investigation. However, soon after the investigation, the Pakistani side raised the issue of Indian agencies' alleged involvement in these incidents. So for India, it is not the time for investigation. It is time for action. We have had so many terror incidents in India, traced to cross-border terrorism. The Indian action related to Operation Sindoor, in all this, it appeared China sided with Pakistan substantially, both in terms of arms, in terms of information. There is a Brigadier-level rank officer of Pakistan who is placed in the Western Theatre Command, who was coordinating between the command control structures of China and Rawalpindi. So this suggests that we need to verify and then trust with China," he said.

India and China have, in recent times, taken steps towards normalisation of ties, which were strained after a standoff in eastern Ladakh. Direct flight connectivity between the two countries is slated to resume later this month.

- ANI