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Will the India-China Dispute Be Another Major Border Conflict?


Credit: BusinessWorld


While India and Pakistan have had ongoing border disputes for the last 73 years, India versus China has slowly been evolving to be an even-bigger sovereignty crisis. In May of 2020, Chinese and Indian troops engaged in aggressive face-offs and skirmishes along the Sino-Indian border at the disputed Pangong Lake in Ladakh and Tibet Autonomous Regions along with additional clashes at eastern Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) which began since the 1962 Sino-Indian war. The Chinese LAC claims areas of the Ladakh region as well as parts of Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India. It is believed that at this time of vulnerability due to COVID-19, China is trying to establish their power through their persistent land grabbing not only internally (Hong Kong and Taiwan) but externally as well.


History

The Sino-Indian border dispute dates back to 1914 when a treaty was negotiated between representatives from Britain, the Republic of China and in Tibet in Simla, India to determine the status of Tibet. While China didn’t want Tibet to be autonomous, Britain and Tibet signed a treaty that established the McMahon Line of 550 miles that is the official legal border between China and India as maintained by India till date. 


Five prominent bilateral treaties have been signed as a result of disputes, an agreement on the maintenance of peace at the LAC in 1993, confidence building measures in the military field along the LAC in 1996, implementation in the same in 2004, the establishment of a working mechanism for consultation and coordination on Sino-Indian border affairs in 2012 and border defence cooperation between India and China in 2013. In 2017, China and India got into a major standoff in Doklam that lasted 73 days but didn’t have any major casualties.  In 2019, India reported over 660 LAC violations and 108 aerial violations by the People’s Liberation Army.


In May of 2020, a standoff began due to Chinese soldiers entering and erecting tents deep inside Indian-controlled territory in Ladakh. The situation quickly turned violent when troops engaged in a clash at the Galwan Valley, the site for Indian’s strategic road that connects to a region close to China. Chinese foreign Minister Wang Yi, states that Indian troops had “deliberately provoked and violently attacked” Chinese officers and soldiers whereas the Indian Ministry of External Affairs states that the Chinese side took “premeditated and planned actions reflecting an intent to change the facts on ground in violation of all our agreements to not change the status quo”, a clear impeachment of India’s sovereignty.


The Opinions

US president Donald Trump even offered to mediate the situation on the 27th of May but was rejected by both India and China. The confirmation on the 15th of June where Indian and Chinese forces engaged in violent conflict resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese soldiers. On the 20th of June, India stated that they would no longer be utilizing as they are developing 100% Indian made vests, which slowly began a nationwide boycott movement. 

$700 million worth of Chinese projects were immediately put on hold in India and the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade also brought a list of all Chinese made goods which the Indian government plans to place import restrictions on. This didn’t affect the sales of Chinese phones, products and usage of apps in India. However, on the 29th of June, India banned 59 Chinese applications including TikTok, the parent company of which is expected to face a $6 billion loss. In response to this, China’s Commerce Minister Gao Feng stated how “it is hoped that the Indian side will immediately correct the discriminatory practices against China and Chinese enterprises”. He added how “To date, China has not adopted any restrictive or discriminatory measures targeting India’s products and service”, stating that India’s actions are in violation of the World Trade Organization's rules and India’s commitment to global trade. 

Chinese media have given almost no attention to the clashes with India and have allegedly downplayed the seriousness of the conflict. They also blocked access to all Indian media and newspaper websites in late June stating how there aren’t any Indian apps or resources that actually compete with Chinese ones that need to be blocked or restricted with regards to Indian actions towards Chinese imports and apps. 


Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated how “the age of expansionism is over. The world has moved on to a path of development”. While many agreed to these statements, even more were angered by his statements on the Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley. P. Chidmabranam, a member of the Indian Parliament said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remark that no outsider was inside Indian territory in Ladakh left everyone bewildered and baffled as it insults and belittles the actions of the Indian Army. Many army soldiers and veterans have expressed their disappointment in the Prime Minister’s words. However, the Indian government stated that this was a gross misinterpretation of the Prime Minister’s words as "The Prime Minister's observations that there was no Chinese presence on our side of the LAC pertained to the situation as a consequence of the bravery of our armed forces”. 


The Conclusion

Most people view this issue as China’s attempts to regain its power and dominance globally in light of the numerous issues and economic challenges they have faced as a result of the global pandemic. While India may attempt to reduce economic activity with China, long term China believes that it will only affect India considering they heavily depend on China for their vertical supply chain. This issue has only escalated the already brewing anger towards China amongst Indians and public dissent only continues. While clashes between two powerful economies are expected, it is hoped that this border dispute doesn’t evolve into one that is similar in nature to that of Pakistan and India as it is extremely dangerous to both countries considering all the economic, environmental and social issues they both face as a result of the ongoing global pandemic. 


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