Violence broke out on Monday afternoon and continued until midnight on the Tibetan plateau
In nearly freezing temperatures in the thin air of 15,000 feet, Chinese and Indian soldiers attacked each other with stones, iron rods and bamboo poles wrapped in barbed wire entwined with nails. It is not known exactly what started the clashes, but by the time they ended, 20 Indian soldiers had died, as well as an unknown number of Chinese casualties.
The violence erupted on Monday afternoon and continued until midnight on the Tibetan plateau along the frozen Galwan River, Indian officials said, asking not to be identified by invoking rules regarding conversations with media. It is the first time in 45 years that a military skirmish along the disputed Himalayan border has become fatal, and it has signaled a sharp deterioration in ties between the two regional giants.
In talks between senior military officials to defuse a border standoff that has been brewing for over a month, the two sides agreed to create a buffer zone between the armies, Indian officials familiar with the matter said. . The troops had to withdraw one kilometer each to create an area that would separate the forces and ensure peace. Indian troops were attacked after opposing the construction of a new post in the buffer zone by Chinese troops, officials said.
The Indian army spokesman was not immediately available for comment, while Zhang Shuili, military spokesman for the Western China Combat Zone command, said on Tuesday in a statement. had had victims on both sides, without further details.
Rising tensions arise amid an uproar of growing nationalism fueled by the two governments as the two powers scramble for regional influence. Further escalation could cast a shadow over a tripartite meeting scheduled with Russia this month.
It is not in the interests of either country to be locked in a bloody border dispute, said Anit Mukherjee, assistant professor of the South Asia program at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
“This deadlock – with loss of life – is a very serious development,” said Mukherjee. “In the days to come, as the funerals of the dead are held in public, this will lead to an emotional call for some sort of response.”
Indian stocks have swung between gains and losses as investors weighed the consequences of a border dispute with the Chinese military while coronavirus infections continue to increase as the South Asian nation reopens. The S&P BSE Sensex index changed little at 33,578.22 at 10 a.m. in Mumbai.
A senior administration official in Washington said on Tuesday that the United States is monitoring the conflict and noted that President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had discussed border issues during an early call of the month.
Beijing warnings
At a regular press briefing in Beijing on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian warned India against any unilateral move that could complicate the situation. A statement issued by India said that military leaders at the border are trying to negotiate a solution.
In a statement Tuesday evening, India tried to defuse the situation and said it remains committed to peace on the border with China. The clash follows an attempt by the Chinese to change the status quo in violation of the de-escalation conditions agreed in recent talks, he added.
Escalation threatens to disrupt planned meeting of Indian and Chinese foreign ministers at June 22 Russia-India-China summit, and could dampen diplomatic progress at two informal summits between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Modi, the most recent having taken place last October. in India.
This comes as long-standing differences between India and neighboring Pakistan continue to simmer and its relations with its traditional ally, Nepal, deteriorate considerably, while Bangladesh continues to think about New Delhi’s decision to ” Law on citizenship based on religion. Beijing is also under pressure as US governments to Europe, Japan and Australia take steps to reduce their dependence on pandemic-exposed China, and it is facing a surge to investigate the coronavirus, identified for the first time in Wuhan.
Leadership test
PM Modi’s leadership will be put to the test as he manages the double crisis of a burgeoning coronavirus epidemic and an economy that is expected to experience its first annual contraction in more than four decades this year.
India and China – which together represent a population of over 2.7 billion, or one third of the world‘s population – are no strangers to animosity, and waged a war in 1962 on their border unmarked of 3488 kilometers (2167 miles). But that was supposed to be behind them because economic and commercial realities take precedence.
The challenge now is to defuse what is “arguably the most serious border spitting between India and China in years,” said Michael Kugelman, deputy director and senior associate for South Asia at the Wilson Center at Washington. “Contrary to what Delhi has suggested, it will not be an easy ladder to descend.”
Although tensions should eventually ease, they come at a particularly difficult time for Prime Minister Modi, said Kugelman. “For an Indian government forced to confront its most powerful rival while fighting a deadly pandemic and the accompanying economic crisis, this is not what it means the least.”
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
