On China, Delhi must be alert
India’s drive to modernise and bolster infrastructure in strategic areas must be accompanied by deft geopolitical moves that ensure that India’s claim on its territory is not threatened
The latest round of the India-China military dialogue last week failed to yield any breakthrough, though commanders from both sides agreed to carry on dialogue through military and diplomatic channels to reach a mutually acceptable resolution of outstanding problems at friction points on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Ladakh sector. The 15th round of corps commander-level talks came on the back of positive signals from both nations that had said that they were hopeful of progress and that the conversation was encouraging. But it also came at a moment of unprecedented instability in the global order due to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Since the two sides clashed in the Galwan Valley two years ago — an event which underlined China’s aggressive and willful violation of border agreements — three rounds of disengagement have been effected at Galwan, Pangong Tso and Gogra. But disengagement in Hot Springs is a sticking point, as are the Chinese army’s forward positions in Depsang. With the western world and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) focused on the crisis in Europe and checking Russia’s revanchist ambitions, Beijing appears to be quickly sliding down the scale of priority in European capitals and Washington DC. Even mechanisms used by India to counteract China’s expansionism in the Indo-Pacific region, such as Quad, may find their energies drawn towards the conflict in Ukraine at a time when the country’s traditionally warm ties with Russia will likely come under pressure as Beijing and a sanctions-hit Moscow grow closer.
With every passing week more evidence is emerging that China is feverishly building its border infrastructure, roads, bridges, airports and missile positions, in a possible attempt to enforce its unilaterally defined claim line of 1959 along LAC. With satellite imagery earlier this year of a new bridge being built on the Chinese side to link both banks of the strategic Pangong Lake, it appears that China’s intransigence in the border talks might be part of its strategy to hold on to whatever gains it made in its unlawful attempts to change the status quo at LAC. For India, therefore, the drive to modernise and bolster infrastructure in strategic areas must be accompanied by deft geopolitical moves that ensure that India’s claim on its territory is not threatened by a possible realignment in the global order. In an unstable world, Beijing will attempt to gain the upper hand. New Delhi must be alert.