India - "The worst in 30 years"

[Randy W]

India's border adventurism harms ties: China Daily editorial

chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2022-12-14 21:36

Indian and Chinese national flags flutter side by side at the Raisina hills in New Delhi, India, in this file photo. [Photo/Xinhua]

from China Daily

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There have, however, been sporadic violent clashes between Chinese and Indian border troops, as happened in South Tibet on Friday. Unlike the deadly brawl in Galwan Valley in June 2020, there appear to have been no deaths on this occasion, although there were reportedly injuries on both sides.

According to a spokesman for the People's Liberation Army's Western Theater, the latest incident was sparked when Chinese border guards organized a routine patrol on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control, which was blocked by Indian troops that had illegally crossed the line.

That the two sides "immediately disengaged from the area" and their respective commanders on the ground met to discuss the issue in "accordance with structured mechanisms", as Colonel Long Shaohua said in a statement on Tuesday, suggests the two neighbors are capable of preventing the situation from spiraling out of control through dialogue and consultations.

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But it is notable that the Indian troops have become more provocative in recent years, with a higher frequency of intrusions into China-controlled areas. This has severely heightened tensions to the detriment of peace and stability along the border.

The nationalistic sentiment in India aside, the ever closer military cooperation between India and the United States on the premise of countering an "increasingly assertive and aggressive" China may also have played a part in some Indian military hawks trying to push the envelope on the border issue. It is surely no coincidence that just days before the latest skirmish, India and the US conducted a high altitude joint military exercise in Uttarakhand near the Sino-Indian border, a move that China's Foreign Ministry said was "not helpful for building bilateral trust".

 

 . . . and from Reuters

2 minute read November 30, 20226:54 PM GMT+8 Last Updated 17 days ago

China wants US not to interfere in ties with India - Pentagon

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China's President Xi Jinping attend the BRICS summit meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, July 27, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings
 

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China has warned the United States to not interfere in its relationship with India following deadly border skirmishes between the Asian giants in 2020, the Pentagon said in a report.

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India is part of the so-called Quad alliance with the United States, Japan and Australia that aims to keep China's influence in the Indo-Pacific region in check.

"Throughout the standoff, PRC officials sought to downplay the severity of the crisis, emphasising Beijing’s intent to preserve border stability and prevent the standoff from harming other areas of its bilateral relationship with India," the U.S. Department of Defense said in a report to Congress released on Tuesday, referring to the People's Republic of China.

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Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian did not mention the Pentagon report during a daily news conference on Wednesday. He said, however, this month's U.S.-Indian joint military exercises not very far from the Chinese border, in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, were "not conducive to the trust between India and China".