India’s border activities threaten stability: analyst

India’s continued infrastructure construction and deployment of forces along the China-India border undermines border negotiations and destabilizes the border area, a Chinese observer said amid a new round of meetings between two countries on border affairs.

The 11th round meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on China-India Border Affairs was held in New Delhi on Thursday and Friday, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The Chinese delegation was led by Yi Xianliang, director general of the Department of Boundary and Oceanic Affairs of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while the Indian delegation was led by Pranay Verma, the Joint Secretary (East Asia) of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

The two sides vowed to continue enhancing communication and coordination in a constructive manner, strengthen frontier defense exchanges and cooperation, push forward the building of trust measures and properly handle border issues so as to jointly maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas and create favorable conditions for the sound and stable development of Sino-Indian relations, Xinhua reported.

“The border meeting has been held several times, but has had a limited effect because India continues to strengthen its forces and road construction along the border,” Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Institute of International Relations of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

India’s actions have greatly affected the progress of the meetings, and have also jeopardized border stability, Hu said.

Meanwhile, India decided to increase its financial aid to Nepal starting April, following concerns over increasing Chinese presence in its neighboring countries, the Times of India reported Tuesday.

To counter China’s influence in South Asia, India increased its aid to these countries, but India’s strength cannot allow it to provide sustained aid to them, Hu said.

“Such aid, temporary and insufficient, cannot help India counter China,” Hu said.