The Dec. 9 incursion near the Yangtze River in the Tawang region raised the diplomatic temperature ahead of the next round of talks to resolve the military standoff in Ladakh.
Release Date – 12:30 AM, Thu – 12 December 22
The Dec. 9 incursion near the Yangtze River in the Tawang region raised the diplomatic temperature ahead of the next round of talks to resolve the military standoff in Ladakh.
Hyderabad: The recent border skirmish in the Tawang region of Arunachal Pradesh reflects growing belligerence in China, which has been continually shifting targets and flexing its muscles as part of a deliberate strategy to flex its regional hegemony. Unresolved border frictions are bad for both countries and have adverse effects on bilateral trade relations. The Dec. 9 incursion near the Yangtze River in Tawang district was the first since clashes in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley in July 2020, raising the diplomatic tone ahead of the next round of talks to ease the military standoff in Ladakh . Unlike the Galwan clash, which left 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese soldiers dead, fortunately, there were no casualties in the latest encounter. The Indian army successfully thwarted the Chinese army’s attempt to unilaterally change the status quo. The high readiness of the Indian Army can be seen in reports in recent days of the Indian Air Force scrambling its fighter jets deployed in the area after Chinese drones were spotted actively moving towards Indian positions along the Line of Actual Control. The Yangtze River is a strategic area of Chinese concern since its standoff with Indian troops in 1986. The latest incursion shows that the Chinese are ready to extend the standoff not just to Ladakh but to all sensitive points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Before the next round of Ladakh talks at the military commander level, they obviously want to create new pressure points, not only to make the Indian army fearful, but also to create some bargaining chips.
Despite the high-level 24/7 deployment of Indian troops, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) seems keen to convey the message that they can invade anywhere along the LAC at will. The recent misadventures may also be related to Chinese anxiety over the ongoing India-US joint military exercises in Uttarakhand, about 100 kilometers from the LAC. Beijing strongly protested the exercise, calling it a “third country’s interference in Sino-Indian relations”. China does not want the United States to interfere in its relations with India, but it has not done enough on its own to ease tensions there. Ironically, China’s provocations are bringing India closer to the United States. New Delhi needs to take these unfortunate events seriously not only for its national security concerns but also given its over-reliance on Chinese imports. China is India’s second largest trading partner after the United States, with a trade deficit of US$73.71 billion. India claims that resolving the border dispute is a prerequisite for normalizing bilateral relations, but this is at odds with continued growth in India-China trade, which will peak at $115.83 billion in 2021-22. The ‘Make in India’ initiative needs a big push to put the country on a firm footing against Chinese machinations.
