India China border face off in the Despang Valley

Indias response to the border standoff in Depsang Valley in Ladakh, after Chinese troops occupied positions
well inside what India considers its territory, has been characterised by excessive timidity that signals
weakness in facing up to Chinese provocation
!o some observers, this tepid response contrasts sharply with Indias robust pushback against "akistans
violation of the Line of Control a few months ago #ven providing for the consideration that in "akistans
case, Indias spirited response was warranted by the fact that its troops had beheaded an Indian $awan and
killed another, Indias wariness in dealing with China is striking
%ome of this contrast is accounted for by Indias relative standing vis&'&vis "akistan and China (ith
"akistan, for instance, India has outgrown the earlier strategic and military parity, and is therefore not
excessively concerned about an escalation in the level of rhetoric In any case, "akistan has no commercial
leverage over India, and its credibility on the world stage is in tatters, particularly after it was seen to have
shielded )sama bin Laden *or sure, "akistan has +nuisance value, as a breeding ground for $ihadists, and
anyone who wishes to play the -reat -ame in .fghanistan has to yield to "akistans blackmail, but that
apart, "akistan is neither rich nor powerful enough to command respect
)n the other hand, the concern is not $ust that Chinas military and strategic strengths are far superior to
Indias, but that China has also been enormously more successful in harnessing its geopolitical strengths and
commercial clout in a way that helps it advance its strategic interests vis&'&vis India
Indian diplomats concede in private that
Chinese play a mean game of political and
diplomatic hardball #ven today, the
Chinese incursion seems directed
at getting India to demolish its fortified
positions in the Ladakh region as the price
for pulling back its troops from the
temporary camps it has occupied in
Depsang Valley
!he Indian side has so far been holding
out and not yielded to this naked
expression of power diplomacy /ut then,
theres reason to believe that China has
been progressively emboldened by Indias
softly&softly approach in recent months 0
when it has forced Ladakhis to abandon
even developmental work , such as building roads or irrigation canals, near the border merely because the
Chinese side ob$ected to them
!he latest standoff comes barely weeks ahead of the upcoming visit to India of Chinas new "remier Li
Indias response to the border standof in Depsang Valley in
Ladakh, after Chinese troops occupied positions well inside what
India considers its territory, has been characterised by
excessive tiidity! "euters
1e2iang, and the fact that the Chinese side was unhindered by this consideration in ratcheting up tension on
the border is indicative of its keenness to pro$ect power in an uninhibited fashion /ut theres a history to this
too
In 3ovember 4556, ahead of the then Chinese "resident 7u 8intaos official visit to India, the Chinese
.mbassador to India %un 9uxi had dropped a bombshell that very nearly cast a cloud over the visit In an
interaction with a television channel %un said that China considered the whole of .runachal "radesh to be
Chinese territory, a position that was at complete variance from Chinas official stand in the border dispute
talks between the two countries
It was a provocative position, but the Chinese later dismissed it by claiming, according to diplomatic cables
released by (ikiLeaks, that the .mbassador had exceeded his brief and had not sought /ei$ings approval
before taking such a stand 3evertheless, it was indicative of Chinese propensity to play hardball ahead of
key visits, perhaps to pro$ect power
/ut in todays world, where geo&economic strengths count for more than military strength, China also wields
many more levers of power over India than $ust traditional threats *or instance, a few years ago, China was
able to leverage its economic muscle within the .D/ and block the disbursement of a loan to .runachal
"radesh on the claim that it was +disputed territory, In response, India withdrew its loan re2uest, which
effectively concedes Chinas point In other words, China was able to establish its case over .runachal
"radesh with the international community 0 without sending a single "L. soldier across the Lo.C or firing
a single missile
China has also wielded its commercial clout with enormous dexterity to wrong&foot India even within its
own neighbourhood !oday, if %ri Lanka is slipping out of Indias orbit and moving into Chinas, its largely
because China has capitalised on Indias diplomatic self&goals there, as Firstpost noted here
.dditionally, as we had noted here, Chinas manner of dealing with governments whose leaders meet the
Dalai Lama showcases its strategy of pro$ecting hard power, even at the risk of being seen to be overreacting
In fact, China marshalls its commercial clout too to +punish, countries that receive the Dalai Lama,
according to a research study by scholars at the :niversity of -oettingen )ne of the scholars, 3ils&7endrik
1lann told me that countries that receive the Dalai Lama 0 against Chinas wishes 0 see their exports to
China contract in the two years following such meetings
(ith India, of course, all these fears have been internalised to such an extent that Indian diplomats kowtow
to Chinese officials and offer apologies even when no such apology is warranted
.nd, yet, when the visiting Chinese Defence ;inister breached protocol, as he did last year, and virtually
insulted India by offering a cash gift of <s = lakh each to two I.* officers, India merely pretended it hadnt
happened
.s this writer had noted then, Indian wariness about offending Chinese sensibilities runs so high that our
officialdom is capable of swallowing any number of slights and not make a fuss /ut the tortured course of
%ino&Indian relations establishes that this only gives yet more elbow room to China to swing its arms in
Indias face
In recent times, China has been overly dismissive of Indias claims to ascendance, and has been particularly
mocking 0 in some cases, deservedly so 0 of Indian claims to having ac2uired strategic parity with China
(henever they have sensed a weakness in the Indian leadership >even if only domestically?, they have tested
Indias resolve with provocations along the volatile border
It is in this context that the latest border standoff in Ladakh should be seen .nd so long as India insists on
pussyfooting its way around Chinese sensibilities, even in the face of grave provocations, India will continue
be seen as a pushover