The India-China Border Conflict

By: Aambar Agarwal

On June 15th, Indian and Chinese troops went head-to-head in a deadly brawl along their disputed border in the Himalayas. Though India and China say that they want peace, their current actions beg to differ. Here’s what you should know about their tumultuous relationship.

The History

The border conflict as we know it dates back to 1914, which is when Britain, China, and Tibet attempted to formally establish the border between British India and China. Britain and Tibet agreed upon the McMahon line, which is what India recognizes today as the official border; however, China refused to sign the deal due to its other proposed terms: the autonomy of Tibet.

Once India gained independence from Britain and China went through its Communist Revolution, clashes began along the border. By 1962, the Sino-Indian War had broken out, with much land gained by China and many lives lost by India. After one month, China declared a cease-fire and new border: the Line of Actual Control. However, five years later, India pushed back, creating their own version of the Line of Actual Control. The territory is heavily patrolled by both sides to this day, despite the harsh Himalayan climate.

In 1987 and 2013, India and China had some close calls. To help maintain the peace, they signed the Border Peace and Tranquility Agreement in 1993. Violence didn’t erupt again until 2017, when China began building a road in Bhutan near another disputed border. India saw this as a threat, and a standoff ensued; to prevent a full-fledged conflict, China agreed to stop construction on the road. However, once again, a series of violent brawls occurred this past May due to China’s incursions along the disputed border, which may have been in response to India building a new road near the border. These brawls escalated into one of the worst yet: June 15th.

June 15th, 2020

20 Indian soldiers died in the clash at Galwan Valley (along with an unconfirmed number of Chinese soldiers), making it the countries’ deadliest conflict since the 1960s. Like the brawls in May, the soldiers fought with their fists and handmade weapons, acting in accordance with the border agreement.

Once the news broke out in India, protests erupted, calling for the boycott of Chinese goods. In contrast, Chinese citizens have been largely kept in the dark, with only a biased version of the May skirmishes mentioned in the Chinese government-controlled Global Times.

This incident can be seen as a part of a greater problem: China intruding upon its neighbors. In the past few months, China has imposed a strict security law on Hong Kong (which goes against Hong Kong’s democratic principles and China’s 50-year promise), repeatedly flown close to Taiwanese planes in Taiwan’s territorial airspace while continuing to threaten reunification, and harassed Vietnamese and Malaysian vessels in the South China Sea (despite that Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, Brunei, and the Philippines claim parts of the sea as well). Even worse, China is doing this during a pandemic that has claimed thousands of lives.

It’s also important to note that China has been intruding upon India’s part of Ladakh for years, without any repercussions.

Currently…

India has taken action against China. So far, 59 Chinese apps have been banned in India, such as TikTok and WeChat; India justified this as a national security measure (since Chinese apps must comply with their country’s intelligence-gathering efforts). Indian e-commerce companies have been asked by their government to label the country of origin on all products in order to highlight what’s from China and what’s not, aiding in further boycott efforts. China has mainly stayed silent regarding these developments.

Militarily, the Indian Army has begun modernizing their technology and rearming their soldiers; meanwhile, China is training their forces at the disputed territory in martial arts. However, India is still in a tough position. China’s military is far greater than India’s, and India is surrounded by China’s allies; China and Pakistan are as close as ever, a Sri Lankan port was recently seized by China, and Nepal seems to be allying itself with China. Furthermore, India’s economy has been impacted much more by COVID-19 and depends on Chinese imports more than China relies on Indian imports. In short, India simply cannot afford a conflict, militarily nor economically, with China.

Yet, if push comes to shove, the US could be an important ally for India. After all, the US plans to pass sanctions on China due to its actions against Hong Kong and has sent its forces to Taiwan and the South China Sea to help diffuse those situations. Why not support India, militarily or economically, if things go sour?

In my opinion, tougher action needs to be taken against China. Though India is currently unable to do so, hopefully the US and other global powers will rise to the occasion. Until then, we can only hope that India and China come to a relatively peaceful agreement soon.

The India-China Border Conflict

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