Chinese misadventures drawing India closer to US

THE nation is relieved to know that vigilant Indian troops thwarted an attempt by the Chinese PLA to unilaterally change the status quo in the Yangtse area of Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang sector on December 9. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that Chinese soldiers retreated due to the timely intervention of Indian commanders. The Tawang confrontation is the first major clash between Indian and Chinese troops since the one near Rinchen La in eastern Ladakh in August 2020. In a bid to downplay the latest incident, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has said that the border situation is ‘generally stable’, adding that the two sides have maintained unobstructed dialogue on the border issue through diplomatic and military channels.

The high level of preparedness of the Indian forces can be gauged from reports that the IAF scrambled its fighter aircraft deployed in the region after Chinese drones were spotted moving aggressively towards Indian positions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in recent days. China’s provocative moves are apparently linked to its reaction to the India-US joint military exercise held recently in Uttarakhand, about 100 km from the LAC. In a sharp reponse reeking of duplicity, Beijing had told New Delhi that the exercise violated the spirit of border agreements signed between the two nations, while conveniently ignoring its own transgressions and incursions.

China does not want the US to interfere in its relationship with India, but it is not doing enough itself to defuse tensions on the ground. Ironically, Chinese provocations are drawing India closer to America. India needs to take these misadventures seriously not only in terms of national security concerns but also in view of its overdependence on Chinese imports. China is India’s second largest trading partner (after the US), with a huge trade deficit of $73.71 billion. India’s assertion that resolving the boundary dispute is a prerequisite for normalisation of bilateral ties is not matched by the constant growth in India-China trade, which had peaked at $115.83 billion in 2021-22. The ‘Make in India’ initiative needs a big push to put the country on a firm footing to resist Chinese machinations.