India – China Relations in the current context:

On June 15, the worst violence on the India-China border since 1967 claimed the lives of 20 Indian soldiers.
The clash occurred in the Galwan Valley, which hasn’t been a site of conflict since 1962.

After 1962, it is an unprecedented situation for which there are going to be serious implications beyond military level.
Eg: Implications can be there for cultural relations , economic relations, people to people relations etc.
Even though there are grave tensions between India and China, the economic relations in terms of trade are worthy which might get affected due to such move of China.
Thus, certain military obligations have to be made on part of China in order to restore the status quo.

According to some experts, China’s dominant nature in the South-China sea is a partial response to accumulating U.S. forces in the region.
Other than this, there can be reasons like Tibetan issue, rising nationalism in Taiwan, Hongkong protest, Accusation for Covid-19 pandemic etc.
Overall, China does have aggressive nature but sometimes it does play a defensive role also but this aggressive move of China has shattered the India China equation.
The main reason for the attack can be the miscalculation of Article 370 by the Chinese Government but on August 12, 2019 it was clearly spelt out that Article 370 has no bearing on India’s territorial borders which is either on LOC or LAC.
However, the Government of India is committed to restoring the status quo and until the exact reason is not known for such a brutal step, the relations between India and China cannot be on the same track.

There is a role of regional geo-politics because China has always backed Pakistan in every situation.
The major change came in the China- Pakistan relationship is when China introduced the Belt and Road initiative (BRI) and China has invested millions for the China-Pakistan Economic corridor(CPEC).
The CPEC passes through India and China reassured that there will be no change along the LOC.
Thus, if China had concerns over it would have resolved it by negotiations instead of going for such a move.
The question arises here is that such a brutal action by PLA would not have taken place without clearance from top authorities so whether the PLA is under complete control of Chinese President or not.
Another fact lies is that China avoids dialogue with India regarding CPEC.
Hence, it is an extreme move which is unacceptable to India and can be detrimental to chinese interest.
The internal dynamics of China has to be carefully looked upon in order to resolve the tensions.

There is economic as well as political pressure on China due to trade war, accusation for Covid- 19 etc. and it exactly resembles a cold war situation.
In this situation, China needs India in economic terms but without accepting the fact that China has gone for such a tragic move which is harmful for the India-China relationship.
However, a further and deeper extension of reforms is needed from chinese side in order to restore the relationship.

When India was competing for the membership at UNSC, the rest of the countries were supporting it while China was against it.
Even for the NSG membership, the rest of the countries were ready to accept India in the given fold but China was not supporting it.
Hence, there can be no clear conclusion until the exact reason behind it is known.

Though China has strategic and diplomatic relations with Pakistan because Pakistan’s geographical setting gives China access to the Indian Ocean, it should not be used as a strategy to encircle India.
The major factor behind hindering relations between India and China is the excessive influence of Pakistan on China’s foreign policy on which China needs to revisit in order to maintain healthy relations.
Thus, putting India and Pakistan on the same foot is the crossed error judgement of China and rebuilding relationships on a separate track is the need of the hour.

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