Coming down heavily on General Bipin Rawat for his "salami slicing" remark, the Chinese state-run daily Global Times said the Indian Army chief has a big mouth and that he could ignite the hostile atmosphere between Beijing and New Delhi.
In an editorial on Friday, Global Times said: "Admittedly, Rawat has such a big mouth that he could ignite the hostile atmosphere between Beijing and New Delhi. He not only turns a blind eye to international rules, but also made us see the arrogance probably prevailing in the Indian Army. He advocated a two-front war in such a high-profile manner, but where does the Indian Army's confidence come from?"
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General Rawat said on Wednesday the country should be prepared for a potential two-front war given China is flexing its muscles and there is little hope for reconciliation with Pakistan. Referring to the 73-day long Doklam standoff, the army chief warned that the situation could gradually snowball into a larger conflict on the northern border.
"As far as northern adversary is concerned, the flexing of muscle has started. The salami slicing, taking over territory in a very gradual manner, testing our limits of threshold is something we have to be wary about and remain prepared for situations emerging which could gradually emerge into conflict," he said.
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The editorial added: “Generals in India need to form some basic knowledge about the current situation. Can India bear the consequences when it has both China and Pakistan as its adversaries at the same time? Should the Indian Army simulate a military rivalry with its Chinese counterpart before letting Rawat speak?”.
It said it seems that there are two Indias, one that is thriving and as one of the BRICS countries the same as China; and the other that keeps provoking and tangling with China.
On Thursday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang reacted sharply to General Rawat's assertion, saying the remarks were contrary to the views expressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping during their meeting in Xiamen this week.
"We have noted the statement by relevant people in India, also we noticed some Indian press remarked that the reports are shocking," he said.
"As reported by Indian press...We don't know whether he was authorised to speak those words or it was just his spontaneous words or whether his words represented the position of the Indian government," Geng said.
