Question: How do you perceive incidences of border brawl between India and China?
Answer: Sir, the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that informally delimits the disputed Sino-Indian frontier is about 3,448-kilometer long. In 2020, there were two incidents of face-off between Indian and Chinese troops which resulted in minor injuries to several soldiers on both sides. The first incident occurred on May 5 near Pangong Tso in Eastern Ladakh while the second face-off occurred on May 9 at Naku La in Sikkim when patrol teams of both countries came across each other. Sometimes, Indian/Chinese patrolling parties deliberately stray into each other’s territory for intelligence gathering or updating their maps. When an Indian Patrol encounters a Chinese patrol, they would follow the peace protocol and act accordingly. The action, assertiveness and aggression of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) patrol team will give valuable inputs to Indian commanders for determining our future preparedness for intensity, frequency, and depth of their upcoming transgressions. Helicopters of the PLA also came close to the border during the face off with the Indian Army. The IAF SU-30MKI fighters were immediately airborne in the area to show our actual time of response. The cohesive response of our Armed Forces acts as a deterrence.
Note:
- The basic framework for dealing with such issues has been laid out in a 1993 “agreement on peace and tranquillity.” According to the ‘Agreement on Maintenance of Peace and Tranquillity along the LAC, “combat aircraft (to include fighter, bomber, reconnaissance, military trainer, armed helicopter and other armed aircraft) shall not fly within 10 km of the LAC.”
- Mutually established protocols at the local level are used to diffuse the situation and disengage. China and India stay in close communication and coordination concerning our border affairs within existing communication channels. The best way to guarantee “peace and tranquillity” on the Sino-Indian border is to focus on military-to-military communication, which would allow the two sides to immediately clarify any relevant issues at a more senior directive level.
- It is true that the problem of controlling important mountain passes and strategic choke points can be resolved through mutual demilitarization, joint control, or by creating mutual hostage conditions — where India and China agree to rest their security on the other’s vulnerability by distributing the number of strategic points equally.
- It is true that India has resolved its border issues with Bangladesh but the resolution of border issues with China is taking forever because if “rising” India assumes that its material power and leverage vis-à-vis China is likely to improve over time, it has no incentive to accept China’s negotiated settlement at a time when India cannot realize the advantages of this increased leverage. This is also true in China’s case, as it too expects to increase its material strength and its superpower status in the coming decades. This could create a reasonable expectation of being able to exact greater concessions from India in the future.
- For India, it is also important to focus on improving military deterrence to ensure China’s ceasing of provocative border activities. India is also focusing on constructing roads along border areas that could match China’s penetration in Tibet.