Experts in China wary of future tiffs

BEIJING: Chinese academics have cautiously welcomed the resolution of the two-month-long military standoff with India in the Doklam region near the Sikkim border, with one expert warning that the pullback of troops is just a temporary solution.

“It may be just a pause. I don’t think it is over,” a South Asian authority with a leading Chinese think-tank told HT.

“There continues to be a big gap between the two countries on the issue,” the academic said, referring to the differences in perception of the strategic China-India-Bhutan tri-junction, close to where the standoff began in mid-June.

The disengagement of troops began on Monday, with no clarity yet on whether China will stop building a road in an area controlled by Beijing but claimed by Thimphu.

“I don’t think China would have stopped building the road,” the academic said, indicating potential conflicts of similar nature in the future. According to the expert, the details of the agreement to defuse the situation would be the key to whether the impasse has actually been resolved.

The academic’s argument centred on the fact that India and China have a 3,500-km boundary dispute, divided into the western, middle and eastern sectors — Beijing’s argument in the current standoff was that India had “illegally trespassed” into Chinese territory because the Sikkim boundary had been decided in an 1890 treaty with the British Indian government.

Other experts were more optimistic. “It is very good news,” said Long Xingchun, director of the Center for Indian Studies at China West Normal University.

Wang Dehua from the Shanghai Municipal Centre for International Studies told HT: “This (resolution) has created a good atmosphere for both countries to resolve problems left over from history. Historical problems can be solved through dialogue.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the BRICS Summit in Xiamen, China, next week.