The Escalated Crisis

By-Smriti Singh

Decoding Border Disputes Between India and China

The Indo-China border disputes exist among the three sectors. Starting
from the Western Sector which remains disputed as it consists of the
Aksai Chin. It is administered by China after India lost this area to China
after the Sino-Indian War in 1962. Aksai Chin has been of strategic
importance for China as it connects Tibet and Xinjiang. China has also
exercised claims on Tibet now and then. The Strategy of China can be
interpreted as acquiring regions that share a border with Tibet will give
support to such claims. India still exercises claims over the entire Aksai
Chin Valley as well as the Shaksgam Valley and on the other hand,
China opposes India’s Control over Daulat Beg Oldi which is an ancient
trade route connecting Ladakh to the Tarim Basin.
Coming to the Central Sector which remains Undisputed to some extend
but the Doklam Standoff shows a different side of the story.
Moving to the Eastern Sector which also remains Disputed as China
claims to land around 90000 sq.km near the Arunachal Pradesh border
which makes it the largest disputed area. Tension has been constant in
this region as China's claims have been skyrocketing day by day over
regions in the Indian Territory.
Reasons behind the Galwan Valley Stand-off
Fresh tensions among India and China activated after the decision of
construction of 32 roads along the Indo-China border got the official
stamp by the Government of India. China was against such a move as
the construction of solid structures like roads will result in increased
movement by Indian Military troops which would make it difficult for
infiltration impossible.
Abrogation of Article 370 gave Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh the
status of Union Territories by the Government of India. China
condemned this move and took the matter in United Nations Security
Council as China believed India’s inclusion of Ladakh by changing the
domestic law has undermined China’s sovereignty. India made its stance
clear by mentioning the this is their internal matter.
China constructed an observation post on the Indian side of LAC to
monitor the troop movement which made it easier for the Chinese
People’s Liberation Army to enter inside the Indian Territory.
China has been continuously facing criticism at the international level on
various issues be it the origination of the Coronavirus or the Hongkong
National Security Act passed by China. Even the US-China trade-off has
negatively impacted China's growth.
Last but not the least, India's new FDI rules which discourage takeovers
of Indian Companies have badly hit China.
All the above-mentioned incidents have triggered this face-off between
the two countries.
Decoding China's debt-trap diplomacy
China’s top trading partners in terms of exports have been United
States, Hongkong, Japan, South Korea, South Korea, Vietnam,
Germany, India, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Taiwan, Singapore,
Malaysia, Russia, Australia, Mexico. China's game plan has always
been flooding the local markets of every country with its products and
not importing the same quantity of goods from that very country results
in an increased trade deficit. This is how Countries fall as a prey into this
debt trap. After this, China starts manipulating and interfering in the
internal matters of that country (especially small countries that do not
possess proper border security forces e.g. Vietnam)
Countries with Strong Military Forces like India, the United States can
stand in front of China and make eye contact and say ''don't mess with
us''. The step taken by India regarding banning 59 Chinese Apps has
shown the world how a nation should protect its Cyberspace sovereignty
from external interferences. Even though it a small step taken by the
Indian Government, but this has helped India gather votes at the
International Level.
Way Forward
India's priority should be to restore the status quo ante at the border to
ease down tensions that have prevailed since April 2020. India should
continue all its road construction projects near all the Indo-China
borders. It's high time that China starts taking India seriously. India
needs to respond to china's aggression and stop having a big-brother
attitude towards China. As far as the 5G network rollout is concerned
India shows ban Huawei and Nokia and Ericsson should be given the
lead in the race of 5G rollout in India. If India fails to do so due to any
reason, then banning those 59 apps would lose its Cyberspace
sovereignty to China, and Data leaks won't be of any surprise then. The
government of India needs a strategic plan to execute all such moves
then only the pill will be too hard to swallow for China. Even though this
move may hamper the “diplomatic relations” of India and China, India
should be ready for the same as maintaining “diplomatic relations” at the
cost of national sovereignty is a too high price to pay.
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