India’s territorial revisionism

Nation pursuing conflict to deflect domestic worries

A Chinese expert said that India is carrying out an Indianstyle territorial revisionist policy after three Kashmiri and one Pakistan militants were killed by Indian security forces in Kashmir and noted that the South Asian country is trying to deflect its people’s dissatisfaction over real domestic issues, such as COVID-19 and the economy, onto border conflicts with its neighboring states of China, Pakistan and Nepal.

“India now is carrying out an Indian-style territorial revisionist policy,” Lan Jianxue, an associate research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Monday.

“New Delhi revoking Indian-controlled Kashmir’s semiautonomous status last year is the main cause of the subsequent turmoil with frequent exchanges of fire between India and Pakistan,” said Lan.

India and Pakistan exchanged fire on the Line of Control (LoC), dividing Kashmir, on Sunday, and four militants, including a Pakistani national, have been killed by Indian security forces, the Indian Express reported on Monday.

New Delhi also has a frontier dispute with neighboring Nepal and tensions with China that last week left 20 Indians dead after a fight involving nailstudded batons, rocks and fists, AFP reported.

Lan pointed out that India has started to implement Hindu nationalism and has chosen an aggressive and radical policy route since the ruling National

Democratic Alliance, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, secured a landslide victory in the country’s election in May 2019.

“New Delhi has been drawn into territorial conflicts and disputes with China, Pakistan and Nepal due to the expansionism and inflated nationalism promoted by the Indian government,” Lan noted.

India thought China might not respond strongly to their border dispute as China is busy containing the COVID-19 pandemic and dealing with the deterioration of China-US relations, which misestimated the current international situation, its own national strength and China’s determination to safeguard its territory, thus ending up suffering painful consequences, Lan added.

New Delhi has been stepping up counter-insurgency efforts in the disputed territory since the nationwide coronavirus lockdown was imposed in late March, said AFP.

“Modi’s administration is trying to manipulate border conflicts with neighboring states to deflect the Indian people’s dissatisfaction from real domestic issues, such as inadequate control of the coronavirus pandemic, difficulty of work and production resumption, and a slowing economy, as well as rising prices of raw materials and oil,” Lan stressed.

Lan warned China must prepare for the risky moves resulting from Indian nationalism.