The Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University
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The Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University Transcript for: Indo-Chinese Relations & Border Issues in Northeast India: A View from India Presented by: Dr. Namrata Goswami Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow at U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP); and Research Fellow, Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi Introduced and Moderated by: Dr. Thomas F. Lynch III Distinguished Research Fellow, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University Location: Room 155, Marshall Hall, National Defense University Date: Thursday April 11, 2013 Time: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm NOTE: The statements and opinions provided in this transcript are those of Dr. Goswami. They are not the official position of the Indian government, IDSA or USIP. They were made at that National Defense University in the spirit of academic freedom and in front of an audience of military and civilian faculty and students as part of a continuing effort to inform this nation’s emerging leaders about varying international perspectives on conflict and security. Dr. Goswami’s statements and opinions were neither sponsored nor endorsed by National Defense University, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. 1 Dr. Thomas F. Lynch III (Dr. Lynch): Good morning and welcome to you all. Today in addition to the hot weather outside, it’s actually a hot agenda here at the National Defense University both in terms of activities as well as for those that work in the wider intellectual community thinking of issues that we are going to discuss today. I thank you all for being here in a timely fashion and make early apologies for those who will be arriving perhaps a little bit late --- principally from the other side of the river, the Defense Department and the wider Pentagon who will join in as we continue. But I’m delighted to have each of you here today and delighted to be sitting next to our guest speaker. Dr. Goswami and I have been in e-mail correspondence now for well over two years, both here at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) and earlier at her location in the New Delhi Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses (IDSA). We have been trying to find a way to get her seconded here at the NDU in a temporary duty status or get her here to speak to us about the subject of her important research. So we are delighted to have you here in the latter capacity and we are also appreciative of USIP for finding a way to bring you aboard and here to the United States. As you can see from the program notes in your seats, Dr. Goswami is an Indian strategic analyst and represents a couple of elements that I think are unique and important. First, she is a non- military person who is working in the private sector thinking about defense issues and is a younger non-military person in the private sector thinking about these issues in India, which I found in my studies and research in India and South Asia is a new and welcome emerging trend. Indeed, one of my favorite India experts and mentors, Stephen Cohen, of the Brookings Institution has been wont to say that in India strategic policy is driven by civilians but there are few civilian strategic thinkers in India. I think that Dr. Goswami represents a break with that tradition from that past. The second and most important issue perhaps for us here today is that Dr. Goswami brings an intimate knowledge of an area of interface between the two countries in the world that are rising the fastest, that have the greatest growing GDP and the greatest activity in the exchange and interaction of any two joint powers: China and India. And she brings a research perspective as well as an on the ground perspective about one of the areas of their interface and exchange that has well over half century of history. That Indo-Chinese history is poorly understood by many in India itself. But more importantly, the history of North-East India is understood at no level of detail by those of us in the West. And yet there is an important history, an important set of relationships and interactions that tie and tether across the Indo- Chinese borders -- those defined and accepted and those that are not. These matters also engage the unique and cross-cutting socio-cultural ties to the indigenous people of North-East India. Therefore, it is my distinct pleasure to welcome Dr. Goswami, who has both a research background and personal history that tie her to North-East India. She will talk to us now about things she’s both written about in the past and things she’s writing right now at USIP which she will be publishing soon. We here at NDU look forward to her forthcoming publications With that set up, I would like to thank you each again for being here today and I welcome you, Namrata, to our stage where we will bring up your presentation slides in just a second. Thank you. 2 Dr. Namrata Goswami (Dr. Goswami): Thank you Tom. That’s a very, very delightful way to welcome me. I feel very privileged. And secondly, I would like to thank the United States Institute of Peace for funding my research here for a year. So before the power point comes in, what I’m going to talk about here today is on the China-India border issue. What I bring to the table is a view that also comes from the area itself and that is North-East India. Now why do I say that? Because most of my research work in India is based on that area. I work on the armed conflicts in the North-East and also on the impact of that on the border regions. And I also look at the border issue from the local perspective, but secondly also from the perspective of history which was one of the reasons why China claims the area and one of the reasons for the conflict to escalate in the 60’s and to escalate again recently in terms of rhetorical posturing. Let me introduce the North-East here to you. So if you look at the map here - this is the map of India - what I have identified here are the areas that are affected by armed conflicts. And if you look at the North-East - that is the area over there, and this is the area that borders China, Burma, Bhutan and Bangladesh, And that area, as you see here, has been affected by armed conflicts since 1918 and has escalated since the 1950’s and continues to be affected by armed conflict till today. In fact some of you might have read about this, today the number of armed groups in the North-East are about 72. So 72 different armed conflicts are ongoing, and in the areas that China claims there are two groups that dominate in two of the districts and that is the NSCN-IM (National Socialist Council of Nagalim-Isak-Muivah) and the Naga Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang. Ethnic profile of the India-China-Myanmar Trans-borders: Now I want to explain to you about the different tribes and communities that live in this area, so if you look at this (the projected) map the cultural diversity, you see that is immense. So if you see the border there are inter-ethnic linkages across the border. And this is extremely important to understand when you look at the China-India border from the perspective of the North-East, even if not so much from Delhi. And this perspective is actually becoming important now in terms of resolving the Sino-Indian border conflict itself. Now you see the Tani (ethnic) group that has inter-ethnic linkages with the Tibetan community, the Mishmis, the Membas, the Monpas and also with Burma. So you see the inter-ethnic linkages with Burma and then you see the importance of Tibet to this whole area. So this whole area has Indo-Tibetan and Indo-Burmese influences which are very strong. The dialects that people speak are Tibeto-Burman - it is different from the rest of India. They don’t speak Hindi as their mother tongue; my dialect itself is traced to the Sanskrit language but also has strong Tibetan influences, Tibetan-Burman influences. So that is a very important perspective to keep in mind. The groups that have armed conflicts are the Nagas, the Kuki-Chins, Meites in India, the Shans, the Kachins, and the Karens in Burma. The Tani group is largely peaceful while the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) s have some conflict in Assam, which is the state I come from; and they are two important power groups and they are transnational. So I bring this in to give you a larger perspective of where the India-China border issue is located and how most of these conflicts are not limited to a national 3 territory they are actually transnational in nature. So since the United States is opening up to Burma it is extremely important to also understand its very strong ethnic linkages to the North- East (of India) and so that area becomes very important in understanding the consequences for these ethnic groups from the opening up and the influence of China in this region and also Tibet. Disputed Border and Territorial Claims: So this (pointing to map) is Indian territory; this is Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and then you have Nagaland.