India-China Border Row – Beijing Won’t Budge, Even at the Cost of War

By Srikanth Kondapalli

12 Oct 2021

China is arguing that India must accept the current status quo at the border.

Both India and China accused each other for the failure to move forward during the 13th round of the commanders meeting on 10 October at Moldo in the western sector of the border. India stated that the “unilateral attempts of the Chinese side to alter the status quo and in violation of the bilateral agreements” have created a problem in the border areas and that the Chinese side did not propose any “forward-looking proposals” to resolve the problem.

On the other hand, the Chinese side accused India of making “unreasonable and unrealistic demands” and hoped India “will not misjudge the situation” in the border areas.

China’s communist party outlet, Global Times, stated that India “will not get the border the way it wants” and its “unrealistic demands [are] not in line with the real situation or its strength”.

In other words, going away from what it agreed to, China is arguing that India must accept the current status quo on the borders after its troops marched into Indian-claimed regions since March last year. It is also sending a signal that it is unwilling to vacate such lands even at the cost of going to war or changing the format of bilateral relations.

Beijing Is Coercing India

According to the Chinese version, “reasonable” concessions from India include recognising the repeatedly rejected Zhou Enlai line of 1959 in Aksai Chin, which is several hundred kilometres south and southwest of the highway it constructed in 1954-57, giving up several hundred square kilometres of territory south of Karakoram ranges and Depsang Plains. In other words, China is conveying that it will not budge on the commanders’ meeting of going back to “known positions” prior to March 2020.

China is also conveying to India that it should kowtow to Beijing based on a recognition of existing military strength differentials, acquired in the recent four decades of economic and military rise.

Clearly, while China argued for “equality” of all countries in its diplomatic discourse and principled foreign policy, Beijing is coercing India. This is in sharp contrast to the narrative it has in its relations with a more powerful United States.

The 13th meeting as such was vitiated by recent events on the border. On 31 August, for instance, over 100 PLA soldiers on horseback entered the Barahoti region at Tunjunla in the middle sector, and on 28 September, over 200 PLA soldiers surfaced in Arunachal borders at Yangtse. Also, on 9 October, China’s Weibo released photos of PLA-captured 30-odd Indians with dishevelled hair and wounds, possibly from the situation at Galwan in June last year.

Courtesy: The Quint