Daily US Times: It came as an utter surprise to many when they heard about the latest disputer on the India-China border. Experts are trying to find answers to the question, why would China choose to border stand-off, antagonize India at this point in time?
China has been managing or struggling to manage so many things- its relationship with the US is on a downward spiral, facing grwoing criticism from the international community over the coronavirus crisis, crossing unprecedented social unrest, particularly in Hong Kong, facing new challenges in cross-strait relations and the South China Sea. What could be China’s intentions or motive behind triggering or intensifying the present crisis with India?
The top leadership of China has been tight-lipped about the development. Unlike during the Doklam stand-off of 2017, China’s state media too has been rather restrained in its coverage of the incident, with just a handful of articles, mostly orchestrating the official stand that India is illegally trespassing and constructing defense facilities across the border into Chinese territory in the Galwan Valley region, and Chinese border troops had no other option but to make necessary moves in response. However, on the other hand, there have been some lively discussions and debates on the issue on China’s state-controlled internet, which does provide important cues about how China might be reading the situation.
In India, the current border stand-off at the border is mostly seen as a continuation of China’s post-pandemic “assertive foreign policy” across the world and also as a fallout of the overall souring of India-China ties in the recent years.
Some suspect the simultaneous breaking out of a high-voltage drama between India and Nepal over Kalapani as a subplot to the broader China-India contradictions in Ladakh and Sikkim. However, in the Chinese articulation the India-Nepal border row seems to be the main plot, which has acted as a catalyst raising tensions along the disputed border between China and India.
In India, focus has been turned to the Durbuk- Shyok-Daulet Beg Oldi Road (DSBDBO) along the Galwan River — which runs more or less parallel to the LAC and improves India’s access to the Karakoram Highway — as the possible trigger point for the latest flare-up between China and India.
According to the assessment of China, India’s construction activity in the disputed areas with Nepal has affected China’s border security in Tibet. India has been recently completed 76 km stretch and moved its frontier vis-a vis China, gaining direct access to the concrete highway in Purang county in Tibet, and has thereby changed the status quo in the region. The last 4 km of the stretch to Lipulekh Pass is expected to be completed by the year’s end.
China already has border defense roads in Purang county on the middle border and Cona county on the southern border with India and a Chinese airport in Purang is scheduled to be completed in 2021. Despite its preparedness on its side of the border, China is concerned that India still has much room for maneuver, using Nepal’s geographical advantage to challenge China’s dominant position in the region.
Zhao Lijian, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman recently officially stated that the India-Nepal differences over Kalapani are an issue between the two and that the two nations should properly resolve the disputes through friendly consultations and refrain from “unilateral actions.” But many in the Chinese strategic circles believe however that China is not “completely unrelated” to the India-Nepal border dispute, and given Nepal’s strategic value to China, it cannot and should not “sit idle.”
The present crisis at the China-India border is indeed serious for India, and not just because it is unlikely a routine accidental border conflict or because of the unprecedented high levels of tension and physical violence at multiple locations of the disputed LAC, as already observed by eminent experts. The standoff also marks a critical turn in China’s strategic calculations in South Asia.
Earlier of the last month, an “aggressive” cross-border skirmish between Chinese and Indian forces resulted in minor injuries to troops. The incident occurred at a remote, mountainous crossing close to Tibet. This is the latest in a long line of border flare-ups between the two neighboring powers.
The spokesman said: “Aggressive behavior by the two sides resulted in minor injuries to troops.”
The spokesman added: “The two sides disengaged after dialogue and interaction at a local level. Troops resolve such issues mutually as per established protocols.”
According to News18, seven Chinese and four Indian soldiers were reported to have been injured in the incident, which took place during a patrol in Nuka La, North Sikkim, more than 16,400ft above sea level in the Himalayas.
