Anger surges in India over deadly border brawl
Acrowd of Indian men smashed Chinese-made televisions in the street. government minister called for Chinese restaurants to be closed, and large government contracts to Chinese companies have suddenly fallen under review.
A wave of anti-Chinese anger is cresting across India as the nation struggles to absorb the loss of 20 Indian soldiers beaten to death this week by Chinese troops in a high-altitude brawl along India’s disputed border with China.
“We need to hit them where it hurts most, and that is economically,” said Ranjit Singh, a retired army major who presides over the residents’ association of Defence Colony, an enclave of New Delhi originally settled by army officers.
And the tensions are hardly easing. Sonam Joldan, a teacher in the Ladakh region, near the India-China border, reported yesterday seeing a line of 100 Indian Army trucks wending its way up the Himalayan mountains, “like a caravan of ants”.
Indian and Chinese generals continued to meet yesterday to discuss de-escalation at the border high up in the Himalayas where the brawl erupted, officials said. But military analysts and satellite imagery indicated that Chinese troops had yet to pull back.
Yesterday, the Indian Express reported that the government was preparing to cancel a huge railway contract that had been given to a Chinese company. That may be just the beginning.
Protests have broken out across India to boycott Chinese goods, a move that will not be easy. The phones in most Indians’ hands are made in China, as are countless other products. India-China trade has grown enormously, from $3 billion (Dh11 billion) in 2000 to $96 billion in 2018, the Indian Express reported. And as of last year, a trade deficit between the two nations had reached nearly $60 billion in China’s favour.