Rawat: China’s the enemy

New Delhi:

China has be­come India’s biggest secu­rity threat and the tens of thousands of troops and weaponry that New Delhi rushed to secure the de-facto Himalayan border last year will not be able to return to base for a long time, Defence Chief Gen­eral Bipin Rawat said, ac­cording to a media report.

A lack of “trust” and growing “suspicion” is coming in the way of re­solving the border dispute between the nuclear-armed neighbours, General Rawat said. Last month, the 13th round of border talks be­tween Indian and Chinese military commanders end­ed in a stalemate as both sides couldn’t agree on how to pull back from the border.

Prime Minister Naren­dra Modi’s administration has shifted its strategic focus from long-time rival Pakistan after the deadli­est India-China fighting in four decades erupted last summer. 20 Indians and at least four Chinese soldiers were killed in hand-to-hand combat in a clash along the 3,488-kilometer border last June. -Agencies