India and its neighbours; Indo China Relations and Border Disputes

Ground Report | New Delhi: India and its neighbours; If we go down the pages of history, we will see that India has maintained very good international relations especially with its neighboring countries like Bangladesh, Srilanka, Myanmar, Bhutan, Nepal, etc. Although Pakistan and China also share borders with India, they are not so friendly towards India. There had been wars and tensions going on with these countries since Independence.

Border disputes with China in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, and Ladakh, land acquisitions by China such as Aksai Chin after the Indo-China war in 1962 are some examples of the fact that China has always been hostile towards India.

India and its neighbours

Recently, last year in 2020, conflicts and tensions escalated to frightening heights in the Galwan valley in Ladakh as the Chinese army started building up their forces, moving heavy equipment into Indian territory by crossing the LAC and thus violating the peace treaty leading to a brutal faceoff with the Indian forces.

Soldiers from the two sides clashed on at least two occasions in Ladakh, with stand-offs and scuffles reported at Hot Springs, and Pangong Tso Lake to the south. Minimum 20 Indian soldiers were Martyred in the faceoff without a single bullet being fired due to the extreme sub-zero temperatures in the valley.

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Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Institute of International Relations of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that the Galwan Valley is not like Doklam because it is in the Aksai Chin region in southern Xinjiang of China, where the Chinese military has an advantage and mature infrastructure. So, if India escalates the friction, the Indian military force could pay a heavy price.

"The Indian government is being pressured by its society due to the unsuccessful handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and while the number of confirmed cases is lower than the US since it has conducted fewer tests, the impact on its economy is serious," Hu said. (India and its neighbours)

Boundary markers

This is common in China. They always try to cross borders and acquire other countries' territory. The same took place in September 2020 with Nepal when reports emerged that China has constructed nine buildings on the Nepali side, encroaching on Nepali land in Limi of Humla. There were widespread anti-China protests outside the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu. Media reports also cited a survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nepal that claimed that there have been illegal Chinese encroachments in bordering districts including Dolakha, Gorkha, Darchula, Humla, Sindhupalchowk, Sankhuwasabha, and Rasuwa.

ALSO READ:‘India repeatedly violating LAC’ says China

Also, there was another conflict regarding the ownership of Mount Everest (Sagarmatha) but with Chou En-lai’s visit to Kathmandu in 1960, he made it clear that Mount Everest belongs to the people of Nepal. Currently, the dispute is regarding the height of Mount Everest. China claims it to be 8844.43 meters while Nepal claims it as 8848 meters.

The boundary markers were repaired and installed after an inspection in 2005 to formulate the fourth protocol, but with the dispute that emerged over the pillar marked 57, the fourth protocol never happened. The boundary talks between the two nations have also been at a halt since then.

Chickens neck area

It's not a new thing about china almost regularly attacking India in the North East. China is looking to attack the eastern part of India through the Tawang district in west Arunachal as it wants to cut off all the strategic tie-ups with the northeastern states of India by attacking the Chicken’s neck.

Chickens neck is the area comprising of Sikkim, west Arunachal, and northwestern Assam. If China succeeds in doing so, all the tie-ups are in the road or by railways, the northeast will be detached from India. Thus, for this reason, the Indian government is building roads and transportations so as to access these zones in case of any dispute or faceoff.  

According to news agency reports on the 20^th of October 2021, The Indian Army has reportedly deployed its heavy artillery gun – the Bofors – along the borders with China in the Arunachal Pradesh sector.  Although there has been no official confirmation of the deployment of the Bofors guns along the border, news agency ANI stated: “Bofors guns deployed in a forward area along the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh.”  

The Indian Army has also increased the deployment of air assets, including unmanned aircraft, in the Arunachal Pradesh sector along the border with China.  The Army recently deployed its aviation brigade in the Arunachal Pradesh sector after acquiring unmanned aircraft ‘Heron I’, chopper ‘ALH Dhruv’ and weaponized attack helicopter ‘Rudra’. The Army has enhanced its air surveillance in a bid to thwart any misadventure by the Chinese PLA in the Arunachal Pradesh sector. India has been deploying it's military heavily along the borders with China to gain a strategic advantage in case of any misadventure from the Chinese side. 

troops disengaged (India and its neighbours)

Before this on the 8^th of October, Indian and Chinese troops were engaged in a face-off along the Line of Actual Control in the Arunachal Pradesh sector as the patrols of two countries came face to face at one location. Sources in the defense establishment said the face-off took place between the two sides last week and the troops disengaged after the talks between the two local commanders as per existing protocols.

As per sources, the face-off lasted for a few hours before the troops disengaged and Indian troops outnumbered the Chinese at the location. There was no damage to the Indian defenses in the face-off that took place between the two sides at the location, they said.

Earlier in August, India, and China had disengaged troops from the Gogra heights area and moved them back to their permanent bases. In the 12th round of military talks, India and China had agreed to disengage troops from patrolling point 17A, one of the friction points between the two countries in the eastern Ladakh region.

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