brahmdeep alune
Being strategically important, China has been continuously ignoring agreements to maintain peace while increasing its military activities on the international border adjoining Eastern Ladakh. China has been considering the Line of Actual Control as disputed. It has put up a barricade in eastern Ladakh and other areas with a large number of soldiers and weapons.
The Chinese strategy of denying the existence of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) by raising the question of a clear boundary line in the inaccessible Himalayan region is decades old. China has been following a military strategy apart from India’s diplomatic approach to maintain the status quo on the LAC. After 1962, there may not have been a war between India and China, but China’s military ambitions increased. China has shown interest in strengthening diplomatic and economic ties with India at a high level, but on the other hand, it has been increasing India’s strategic challenges by strengthening roads, railways, airstrips, military bunkers and infrastructure in the Himalayan plains. .
The concern expressed by US Army General Charles A Flynn recently over China’s activities in Ladakh cannot be dismissed because China’s military behavior in eastern Ladakh has been very tense. The presence of the Defense Minister of India in Ladakh in the last two-three years and the Chief of the Army Staff inspecting inaccessible military sites is not a mere coincidence. India has now accepted China’s increasing activities in this area at the diplomatic and military level.
Ladakh, India’s union territory in the Himalayan region, is strategically very sensitive and important, from where China and Pakistan are monitored. Ladakh is situated between the Karakoram Mountains in the north and the Himalaya Mountains in the south. India has been expressing commitment to get back the land of Ladakh which is currently in the possession of China and Pakistan. Ladakh includes the area of Pakistan occupied Gilgit Baltistan, Chinese occupied Aksai Chin and Shaksgam Valley. Under an agreement in 1963, Pakistan had gifted the Shaksgam Valley area of five thousand one hundred and eighty square kilometers to China, it is part of Ladakh itself.
Being strategically important, China has been continuously ignoring agreements to maintain peace while increasing its military activities on the international border adjoining Eastern Ladakh. China has been considering the Line of Actual Control as disputed. It has put up a barricade in eastern Ladakh and other areas with a large number of soldiers and weapons. For this reason, the armies of both countries came face to face many times in areas like Galvan Valley, Pangong Tso and Gogra Hat Springs. India has also increased the number of troops in these areas to deal with any situation. Along with this, the work of construction of bridges, airstrips and roads has shown speed in this area.
The need for militarization in eastern Ladakh has been reinforced by the unusual activities of China. The headquarters of the Western Command of the Chinese Army People’s Liberation Army is located in Tibet. The same command of the Chinese Army is stationed on the Line of Actual Control extending from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh in India. China’s Central Military Commission has shown unprecedented speed in the replacement of a high military officer in command over the past few years.
Last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping surprised everyone by visiting Tibet without any prior announcement. During this visit he had gone to Nyingchi Railway Station which is near the border of Arunachal Pradesh. Jinping is the first Chinese leader to visit the city, which is located near the border between India and China. China is currently working on major projects to connect its eastern and western regions. The Lhasa Nyingchi-Railway is playing an important role in further deepening ties with Nepal. This rail scheme, which borders India, is of one thousand seven hundred and forty kilometers. Obviously, the way China is developing infrastructure in the areas bordering India, they are a big strategic challenge.
In June last year, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had clearly told the Qatar Economic Forum that two issues are important in the tension on the LAC with China. First, the continuous face-to-face deployment of troops along the border and second, whether China will keep its written promise not to deploy large numbers of troops. This clearly shows that the distrust between India and China has increased.
In fact, this mistrust of India about China’s military activities has grown from China’s efforts to change the status quo. China has significantly strengthened the infrastructure in the Western Military Command area. This has alerted India. In February last year, both the countries had announced a phased reduction of tensions on the northern and southern banks of Pangong Tso, but this did not appear to be happening on the ground. The ongoing dispute over areas like Gogra and Hat Springs, Demchok and Depsang continues. Several levels of talks have been in vain to resolve this.
India has also accepted a report by a US cyber security firm in which hackers from China tried to attack power distribution stations near Ladakh at least twice in September last year. The Xinjiang Military Command of China’s People’s Liberation Army has deployed tanks, long-range rocket launchers and air defense systems along the border with India. This shows the aggressive intentions of China.
India’s biggest challenge is to restore the status quo on the borders before April 2020. Significantly, on May 1, 2020, there was a clash between the soldiers of the two countries on the northern bank of Pangong Tso Lake. After this, in June, once again there was a clash between the soldiers of both the countries in the Galvan Valley. In which twenty-four Indian soldiers were martyred. Pangong Lake is considered very important for India from the point of view of strategic, historical and national honor. Till 1962, the Indian Army used to patrol the Pangong Lake till Finger-8.
After the Indo-China war, the patrolling of the army became irregular in this area and from here a big security problem arose. At this time, the Indian Army goes for patrol till Finger-4. There is a lot of pressure from the Chinese army here. Strategically also, this lake is of great importance as this lake comes in the way of Chushul valley. China can use this route to attack. It was from here that China attacked India during the 1962 war. India shares a border line of about three and a half thousand kilometers with China. China tells this line to be about two thousand kilometers and keeps claiming illegal claims on many areas of India.
It is not easy for India to break away from a country like Russia and become a full-fledged strategic partner with America due to geographical conditions, but India cannot ignore America’s usefulness in the security challenges faced by China. China’s military and imperialist strategic ambitions are adding to the global security crisis in the Indo-Pacific. In such a situation, India’s realistic interests appear to be more secure with America.