General Rawat also said the situation along the border with China remains tense.
New Delhi:
The Chief of Defense Staff, General Bipin Rawat, today warned that a “wider conflict” with China cannot be ruled out if border clashes and unprovoked military actions increase. General Rawat also said that China and Pakistan, acting in collusion, posed a pervasive danger of regional instability with the potential to escalate.
While the general indicated that a full-scale conflict with China was unlikely, he warned: “In the overall calculation of security, confrontation at borders, transgressions and unprovoked tactical military actions that escalate into a larger conflict cannot be ruled out. ” These are the most blunt remarks made by anyone in government on China and the possibility that the crisis has spread to Ladakh since May is spiraling out of control.
Citing China’s ambitions as an aggressive pursuit of hegemonic interests, Gen. Rawat said the situation along the Line of Real Control (LAC) – the de facto border between the two countries – remained tense amid transgressions. and the belligerent actions of the Chinese.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army was facing “unintended consequences” for its Ladakh mishap due to strong responses from Indian forces, the chief of defense staff said during a webinar hosted by the National Defense College. “Our attitude is unambiguous; we will not accept any change in the actual line of control, ”he said.
The economic slowdown due to the pandemic has made China “repressive at home but aggressive abroad,” he said, as evidenced by its posture in the South China Sea, the East China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. “ In the years to come, we are likely to see an aggressive pursuit of hegemonic interests by China manifested in the economic exploitation of weaker nations, military modernization, and increased contestation with the West. ”
Referring to the Sino-Pakistani link, General Rawat said: “ The constant friction with two of our nuclear-weapon neighbors with whom India has waged increasingly colluded wars is a pervasive danger of regional strategic instability with the potential for escalation, threatening our territorial integrity and strategic cohesion. ”
India and China have held seven rounds of military talks to resolve the impasse in eastern Ladakh that began in May and saw an unprecedented escalation in June when 20 Indian soldiers died for the country in a clash physical with Chinese troops in Galwan Valley.
General Rawat’s remarks came as India and China entered their eighth round of talks to discuss de-escalation and the two sides’ disengagement from all sticking points. So far, these discussions have not progressed.
In August, Chinese soldiers attempted to close in with Indian troops who had recovered key heights on the northern and southern shores of Pangong Tso, overlooking Chinese posts, and shots in the air were launched for the first time since. decades.
“The persistent border dispute, China’s support for Pakistan, its growing influence in South Asia through the Belt and Road Initiative, and an unbalanced economic relationship will likely ensure that in the near future, the Sino-Indian relationship will remain a fundamental competitive relationship, ”General Rawat said.
Regarding Pakistan, he said that the “new Indian model for combating terrorism” had sowed ambiguity and uncertainty in the country, which continued its proxy war through cross-border terror. “Pakistan’s relentless proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir, vicious anti-Indian rhetoric on social media, and efforts to create rift in India have brought India-Pakistan ties to a new level. lower, ”he said.
