Patrol Bombs

Border tensions spike suddenly along the LAC, as sections in India join others in criticising China’s handling of COVID-19. Yet the two have enough reasons to resolve all issues peacefully.

- Pranay Sharma

THREE years ago, a prolonged stand-off between Indian and Chinese troops on Bhutan’s Doklam plateau had sparked alarming speculation about the proximity of an armed conflict between the two Asian giants, and how such a frightening possibility would destabilise the sub-continent and the region beyond. That crisis, however, was resolved in 73 days without a shot being fired.

But similar worries have started clouding minds of policy planners as Indian and Chinese soldiers have over the past week begun to pitch tents and enforce their respective positions along strategic points in Ladakh, in the western sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The build-up at the border— triggered by aggressive posturing and ‘transgressions’ by soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) into the Indian side of the LAC—coincides with a marked rise in anti-China feelings in India as sections make common cause with the anger against the Chinese leadership across the world in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

The question arises if the two developments are linked. “This seems to be a coincidence; there is no connection between the two,” says historian Srinath Raghavan. “The LAC has its own seasonal dynamic and this is part of it. Though both sides seem to have gone farther than usual,” he adds. Raghavan refers to incidents that started from May 5-6, when Indian and Chinese soldiers were injured while trading punches and throwing stones at each other in a departure from past norms underlining the avoidance of physical violence.