India China shares a 3,488 km (2,167 miles) long disputed border. The two nuclear-armed powers with a combined population of 2.7 billion, have been gathering thousands of troops at a disputed border in a remote area of the Himalayas.
Both the nations are competing to build infrastructure along the border, also known as Line of Actual Control. India’ constructions of a new road to a high-altitude air base is seen as one of the main triggers for the clash of soldiers in June 2020, that left 20 Indian soldiers dead.Rivers, lakes and snowcaps mean the line separating soldiers can shift and they often come close toconfrontation.
The Bigger Picture
This conflict started dates back to the 1950s. Hassle were reported after India granted Dalai Lama asylum against Chinese rule in Tibet in 1959. After three years in the year 1962 war broke out after China objected to India establishing posts along the boundaries, demarcated by Britishers in 1914 between the Tibetan region and northeast India. India suffered a humiliating defeat in this war. Simmering tensions involve the risk of escalation on both sides. Clashes were also reported in 1967 and again in 1967 and again in 1987.
As the years passed relation between both the nations were improved as the two-government signed five treaties between 1993 and 2013.
Insights of a Treaties
1. 1993- Agreement of maintenance of peace and tranquility along the LAC. (Agreement in accordance with the five principles of mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interfere in each other internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit and peace coexistence.)
2. 1996- Agreement of confidence- building measures in military field along the LAC. (No use of military capability against the other side, mutually accept the settlement of boundaries, Reduce or limit their respective military forces within mutually agreed geographical zones, ensures that Air intrusions across the LAC do not take place).
3. 2005- Protocol on the modalities of confidence building measures in the military field along the LAC. (The two sides should strictly respect and observe the LAC and work together to maintain peace and tranquility in border areas, the two sides shall safeguard due interests of their settled population).
4. 2012- Agreement on the establishment of a working mechanism for consultation and coordination on India-China borders affairs.(Explore the possibilities of cooperation in the border areas, holds consultation once or twice every year in India and China).
5. 2013- Agreement of border defense cooperation.(Refrain from any provocative action, not use force against the other side and treat each other with courtesy, jointly combat smuggling of arms, wildlife and wildlife articles and other contrabands, each side may invite the other side for celebrations on the major national or military days or festivals and organize cultural activities).
Galwan Valley Clash
On May 5, China surprised India deploying troops in the three mains locations Pangong Tso, Galwan valley a glacial lake at 14,000 feet in the Tibetanplateau, Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldie in the eastern Ladakh. Indian and Chinese Army were engaged in the standoff.
The standoff at Galwan valley has escalated in recent weeks due to the infrastructure projects that India had undertaken in the recent years. India is building a strategic road through the Galwan valley which is very close to China connecting the region to an airstrip.Standoff in the Galwan region was one of the biggest flashpoints of the 1962 war. China is opposed to any Indian construction in the area. China said at the time it was unacceptable that India “continued to undermine its territorial sovereignty.”
After weeks of hassle left scores of troops injured, the standoff entered a new more dangerous phase in mid- June when 20 Indian soldiers martyred in the deadly clash with Chinese soldiers in the Galwan area. This was the first deadly clashes on the border in four decades. Days earlier it had appeared efforts to lower the temperature on both the diplomatic and military fronts, indicating that they were pulling back forces while talks continued.
Peace Talk of China: Reality or, mere Illusion
For the first time since 1980’s blood wish shed in the India -China border. China started talking about peace, but its actions do not match its words. China is engaging in fresh provocation. More than a year after the clashes in Galwan, China is escalating the border standoff. Chinese troops deployments are now at the highest level in decades. In the past few months Peoples Liberation Army gradually increase the number of troops now there are 50 thousand personals an increase of 15 thousand. Most of this troops are spread up and set up in the center of the recent standoff.
China has moved advanced surface-to-air missiles to the region, including its HQ-9 system. PLA’s army has built hundreds of new structures to support troops at military encampments at the town of Rudok, in Tibet’s Ladakh Frontierand Kangxiwar, a plateau which connects Tibet with Xinjiang region.
These recent buildups are triggering further clashes between the troops. India and China have held about a dozen rounds of peace talks between military and diplomatic officials since the confrontation last year in an effort to de -escalate tensions between two nations.
“Disengagement from all friction points followed by de-escalation and a commitment to maintain peace and tranquility along the border is the way forward to resolve the standoff and improve bilateral relations”.
India’s and China’s stands
Both are blaming each other and saying that they have the right to defend their territory and citizens.The main quos started due to the spread of corona virus where the whole world believes that the China is the only reason for the spread of Corona virus due to research done in the laboratory of Wuhan institute. India started boycotting od Chinese goods, ban on Chinese apps. China has been relatively mute. On the centenary of the Chinese Communist Party. Xi Jinping says that China would not accept “sanctimonious preaching”, root out any elements who harms the party’s purity this type of suppressing speech shows a different stance of China.
Measures to improve India- China Relation
China and India have achieved tremendous progress in multi-sector co-operation.Notwithstanding that progress, challenges still exist in the bilateral relationship, however. This includes economic constraints, border disputes and perception problems.
· Upgrading the current Sino-Indian Strategic and Economic Dialogue meetings to a higher level – for example, by having future dialogues led by the Chinese State Councillor and Indian National Security Advisor, with the full participation of diplomatic, economic and military policymakers;
- Strengthening co-ordination and communication in regional and global institutions;
- Working on non-traditional security issues, such as the maritime security co-operation, and making it a basis for better mutual understanding;
- Careful handling of sensitive issues – particularly such issues as the Tibetan independence movement, the South China Sea and the so-called “String of Pearls”; and,
- Promoting open regionalism and rejecting the idea that East Asia and South Asia should be viewed as separate blocs and defined regions.
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Author: Akash Tiwari, National University of Study and Research in Law, Ranchi