How to Tame Your Dragon
The meeting between the foreign ministers of India and China made it clear that the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LoAC) and beyond is unlikely to defuse quickly or easily. Though the meeting ended with a joint statement and a five-point action agenda for peace, China is intent on blaming India for the standoff while India has stressed the necessity of restoring the pre-April 2020 status along the LoAC. Notably, the joint statement leaves actual disengagement not to any political imperative but to the troops on the border and their continued dialogue. The meeting at the political level should serve, it is to be hoped, at least to prevent further escalation of the stand-off into active hostilities.
The restoration of peace and tranquillity is unlikely to be easy. Ahead of the meeting and after it, Beijing blamed India for the situation at the border. India has raised concern about China’s troop build-up in the region and along the LAC. The joint statement emphasises the need for dialogue, confidence-building measures and other existing mechanisms. India has maintained the need for dialogue, and the ministerial meeting in Russia is reflective of that. However, confrontation with China, instances of which have increased over the past few years, is unlikely to reduce. India’s proactive efforts to forge alliances and partnerships with key global players, concerted effort to improve infrastructure in the border region, and the renewed focus on the development of Ladakh are seen as unwelcome developments by Beijing. The Chinese Communist Party’s English language newspaper literally warns New Delhi against close partnerships with the US and other powers.
In response, India must deepen and widen its partnership with the US, Japan, Australia, Southeast Asian countries, the European Union, Russia, West Asia and key Arab and African states, deploying economic, diplomatic and cultural resources to strengthen its credentials as a counter weight to China in the region. In other words, to deal with the surly dragon, New Delhi must go beyond dialogue with Beijing.