sixty years agoOn 21 November 1962, China announced a unilateral ceasefire to end the Sino-Indian War. For a long time since then, both countries have tried to reach a lasting peace, but have shied away from it. Today’s India China relations is once again at a new low, avoiding war but regretfully inventing new methods of confrontation.
Recently, on June 15, 2020, 20 Indian soldiers including an officer of the rank of Colonel died at the hands of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops. in the Galwan sector in eastern Ladakh, Indian soldiers were patrolling the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to uphold their claim on the border. It was the first armed conflict between the two armies since 1975 and underlined the fragility of the peace.
such a long history
The first armed conflict between the PLA and the Indian Armed Forces took place in August 1959, when two personnel of the 9 Assam Rifles were killed at Longju in the Subansiri Frontier Division. in Arunachal Pradesh While patrolling the border to establish claim lines.
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This disputed border has remained central to India-China relations ever since. And the practice of marking territory through physical presence has been a trigger for violent clashes.
Border conflicts escalated after the 1962 border war between India and China under the leadership of Longju. A period of calm following the war created an atmosphere for border talks. However, differing perceptions of the LAC meant that border clashes continued, with patrols repeatedly squabbling over meters of territory. During the years of talks, intermittent clashes in Tulung La and Sumdorong Chu (both in Arunachal Pradesh) have disturbed the peace.
After Chinese intrusion in Sumdorong Chu Valley In 1986-87, soldiers from both the armies stood eye to eye for months. That episode seems to have made both sides realize the importance of ensuring a stable border. As a result, in December 1988, Rajiv Gandhi became the first Indian prime minister in 34 years to travel to Beijing for talks with China.
Over the decades, India and China have negotiated and signed five major confidence-building agreements aimed at maintaining peace and tranquility along the border. These include the September 1993 agreement on the maintenance of peace and tranquility along the LAC in the India-China border areas. This was followed in November 1996 by the Agreement on Confidence-Building Measures in the Military Sector along the LAC in the India-China border areas. Another agreement signed in April 2005, Modalities for Implementation of Confidence-Building Measures in the Military Sector along the LAC in the India-China Border Areas ,
This was followed by two agreements in the area of border management: Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs signed in January 2012; and the Border Defense Cooperation Agreement, signed in October 2013.
While India and China have not actually gone to war, these agreements have failed to keep the LAC quiet. In April 2013, there was a three-week standoff in Depsang, Ladakh. This was followed by a 16-day standoff in Chumar, Ladakh in September 2014; And then a tense 73-day standoff in Bhutan’s Doklam in June-August 2017.
In the 1990s, the Indian Army identified 12 locations on the Ladakh section of the LAC where the two sides have differing perceptions of the alignment. These are: Samar Lungpa, Depsang Bulge, Point 6556, Changlung Nala, Kongka La, Pangong Tso North Bank, Spanggur Tso, Mount Sajun, Dumchele, Chumar, Demchok and Trig Heights.
Opposition to Chinese expansionism
Since then, five more such points have been added to the list underlining India’s resistance to China’s growing expansionism. These are the areas around Km-120 in Galwan Valley, Patrolling Point (PP) 15 in Hot Springs, Patrolling Point 17A in Valley Gogra area (both PPs are north of Pangong Tso), and Rechin La and Rejang La on the south bank of Pangong Tso.
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Yet, through decades of negotiations, peace has not been maintained. The Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs has held 25 meetings. The Special Representative level border mechanism has held 22 rounds of talks. current impasse in deadlock over The standoff continues in eastern Ladakh even after 16 rounds of talks between senior military commanders.
Most recent (July 17, 2022) The joint statement after the 16th round of talks at the Chushul-Moldo border, which lasted for over 12 hours, said: “The two sides agreed to remain in close contact and maintain dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and to resolve mutually acceptable Agreed to work on resolving the remaining issues at the earliest.
nature of conflict
it’s hard to decide what it’s about nature of conflict that it defies the resolution. Is it because either side believes there is no argument for a compromise, given the political capital required to reach an agreement? Or is it that the current format of interaction between nations does not cater to the unique conflict between India and China?
Unique because it includes not only territorial claims, but also separate elements of historical heritage. Some analysts believe Beijing deliberately avoided an agreement to keep India off balance and preoccupied with the border, to divert its attention from a vulnerable Tibet.
For India, post-independence, the British legacy established for consolidation of territories meant defining boundaries as they were inherited. China, on the other hand, was rejecting colonial boundaries and recounting periods in its history in which it controlled Tibet, albeit sporadically. It was far from a peaceful process and in fact, it was actively opposed through rebellions and insurrections and this process continues to this day. The McMahon Line, as the British demarcated the India-China border, has fallen victim to this diversion.
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That China became a communist state and India followed the path of democracy further deepened the divide.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets Chinese President Xi Jinping in Bali It had been three years since the two leaders even publicly acknowledged each other, during the G20 summit this month. The two leaders stood next to each other without exchanging a word in Samarkand in September 2022. They last held a bilateral summit in 2019 in Brazil on the sidelines of the BRICS summit. The ongoing Ladakh standoff along the LAC that began in April 2020 and the Galwan massacre have further worsened the situation. Relations between India and China to an impasse.
so many things change
India-China relations today seem to be following the path laid out by Vallabhbhai Patel in his letter to Jawaharlal Nehru on November 7, 1950. Referring to the Chinese invasion of Tibet, Patel said, “It throws all frontier and commercial settlements into the melting pot,” on which India had been working and working for half a century before.
skirmish in galwan has broken the complacency between the two sides that the disputed borders can be maintained peacefully forever through one type of mechanism or the other.
At the end of 60 years, after trying all these peace agreements that didn’t work, we are back to border conflict, with both sides still fighting for every inch of land. This smoldering regional conflict is reminiscent of that cold November in 1962. As we mark another anniversary of the end of hostilities, if nothing gives, we could be looking at 60 years of fractious peace.
Sonia Trikha Shukla is Professor of Practice at OP Jindal Global University, Sonepat and Adjunct Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi.