The situation in Eastern Ladakh remains tense as Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) there since May. Indian foreign policy analyst Amrita Dhillon has explained what is behind the protracted row and who could benefit from the Sino-Indian rivalry.
On 10 September, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar for the first time since the beginning of the border conflict on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Moscow. Both sides agreed on five guiding principles to ease tensions, with a view to disengaging and maintaining distance by Chinese and Indian troops and proceeding with new confidence-building measures.
The standoff along the poorly demarcated Sino-Indian LAC started on 5 May on the northern bank of Pangong Lake in the Himalayas and then escalated into a bloody clash in mid-June which resulted in the death of at least 20 Indian troops in Galwan Valley.
What has Caused the Tensions Between India and China?
There are many reasons for the brewing tensions between the two Asian giants which also sidelines any attempt for reconciliation, emphasises Amrita Dhillon, an Indian foreign affairs analyst and Founding Editor of The Kootneeti, a New Delhi-based publication.
In a hypothetical warfare scenario New Delhi can gain a competitive advantage in this area by targeting G-219 thus disconnecting Tibet from Xinjiang, she notes. Apparently…
