June 20, 2020
China reaffirms claim to Galwan Valley
that was a flashpoint in 1962 war
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
A day after India rejected China’s claim of sovereignty over Galwan Valley, at the heart of a tense border standoff between the two sides, Beijing on Friday said the region is on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control and had been patrolled by its troops for “many years”.
On Monday night, Indian and Chinese troops were involved in a seven-hour violent face-off in Galwan Valley that left 20 Indian soldiers dead and at least 76 injured. Another 10 Indian soldiers, including on Lt. Colonel and three major rank officers, held by the Chinese side were released on Thursday.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Friday said: “The Galwan Valley is located on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control in the west section of the China-India boundary. For many years, the Chinese border troops have been patrolling and on duty in this region.”
According to Hindustan Times Zhao Lijian’s statement was posted on Chinese Embassy’s website shortly before midnight on Friday.
Lijian also said that since April, Indian troops had “unilaterally and continuously built roads, bridges and other facilities at the LAC in the Galwan Valley”. China made representations and protests on multiple occasions but “India has gone even further to cross the LAC and make provocations”, Zhao added.
Zhao said Indian troops crossed the LAC by night and trespassed into China’s territory on May 6 and then “built fortification and barricades, which impeded the patrol of Chinese border troops”.
They deliberately made provocations in an attempt to unilaterally change the status quo of control and management. The Chinese border troops have been forced to take necessary measures to respond to the situation on the ground and strengthen management and control in the border areas.
Referring to a meeting of senior Indian and Chinese military commanders held on June 6, Zhao said the two sides “reached consensus on easing the situation”. He claimed the Indian side “promised that they would not cross the estuary of the Galwan river to patrol and build facilities” and the two sides would discuss and decide the phased withdrawal of troops”.
Zhao claimed that on June 15, Indian troops violated the agreement reached on June 6 and “once again crossed the Line of Actual Control for deliberate provocation…and even violently attacked the Chinese officers and soldiers who went there for negotiation, thus triggering fierce physical conflicts and causing casualties”.
Zhao reiterated various accusations levelled by the Chinese side in recent days about the violation of agreements.
Strategic importance of Galwan Valley
The Galwan River Valley is considered a point of great strategic importance for both India and China. Control of the Galwan valley gives access to the Aksai Chin plateau, through which part of the Xinjiang-Tibet highway passes.
Located about 17,000 feet above sea-level, Galwan Valley is mired by extreme weather conditions and sub-zero temperatures.
Since 1956, China has advanced its border claim line steadily westward more than three times, eroding Galwan’s status. However, interestingly, post-1962, there have been no military face-offs vis-a-vis the region. That is, until now.
In 1962, a stand-off at Galwan was one of the biggest sparks of the Sino-Indian war that began on October 20, 1962.
India is engaged in building up border infrastructure in Galwan Valley area, including the all weather 255 km Darbul-Shayok- DBO road. The road runs almost parallel---at places very close---to the LAC and extends up to the base of the strategic Karakoram pass.
China’s motives in the current standoff
Bhim Bhurtel of Asia Times says China wants to decouple India from the US. It has severe concerns about India’s move because of the two countries’ shared 3,400-kilometer border. Chinese strategists think India is a proxy of the US to contain China in the Himalaya and the Indian Ocean.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, without referring to any particular agreement, has been repeating what he expressed last month, “We urge the Indian side to work together with us, abide by our leadership’s important consensus, comply with the agreements signed, and refrain from unilateral actions complicating the situation.” He was hinting at the agreement and consensus between Modi and Xi during their two informal summits in Wuhan and Mamallapuram.
Beijing also perceives that Modi looked toward the US despite an agreement to work with China in making “the Asian Century.” Modi is reluctant to see the “importance of respecting each other’s sensitivities, concerns, and aspirations” as outlined in the joint statement issued after the first summit.
Modi and Xi agreed to seek a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement on the India-China boundary issue. However, after revoking Article 370 of the Indian constitution, India issued a new map that included Pakistan-administrated Kashmir.
In excitement, speaking at the Lok Sabha, lower house of Parliament, Modi’s henchman and home minister Amit Shah said he would take back Aksai Chin, China-administrated Ladakh. Then Jaishankar flew to Beijing and reassured China that India had no intention of expanding its territory.
China initially understood the incident as a domestic political issue in India. However, after a succession of later events – policy changes on the issue of Taiwan, on tightening China’s investment in India, restructuring of the World Health Organization, the Covid-19 probe, the Quad, and the defense deal with Australia – Beijing’s suspicions intensified.
Chinese strategists think that Modi has changed his mind on his agreement on “building an open, multipolar, pluralistic, and participatory global economic order,” and that he has abandoned the partnership with Beijing and wants to deter its increased footprint in its own back yard and the Indo-Pacific rim at the behest of the US.
China wants to send a clear message to Modi to abide by the consensus and agreements reached with Beijing during the two informal summits or prepare for a worse consequence than in 1962 from the military face-off in Ladakh.
Bhim Bhurtel believes that if Modi fails to reset the course toward fulfilling the consensus and agreement reached during the two summits, China will punish India much harder than in 1962. Then Modi’s fate is likely to be as depicted by 19th-century Russian historian Vasily Klyuchevsky, who said, “History teaches us nothing, but only punishes for not learning its lessons,” he concluded.
China warns against retaliation
Chinese Communist Party’s Global Times wrote a June 17 commentary warning that India would “pay a heavy price” and “face military pressure on two or even three fronts” if it retaliated for China’s killing of at least 20 Indian soldiers with rocks and spiked clubs in a Western Himalayan border altercation,
The Global Times quoted an expert as saying that India should not “believe that worsening China-US ties would provide a chance for India to challenge China” while suggesting any “unwise movements” could “bring about serious consequences” for India.
Currently, India is facing heavy domestic pressure as its unsuccessful measures to handle the coronavirus has brought huge damage to its economy, so it needs to make moves against its neighbors, to distract domestic attention and incite nationalism to reinforce Modi's approval rating, Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Institute of International Relations of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.
US multinational investment bank Goldman Sachs predicts that the Indian economy will experience a recession after its already weakened state was further dragged down by the nationwide lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the third time that Goldman Sachs has slashed its forecast for India's economic growth in 2020-21, CNBC reported in May.
Hu said India has engaged in border disputes with China, Pakistan and Nepal at the same time. As Pakistan is a reliable strategic partner of China, and Nepal also has close ties with China, and both of them are key partners under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, if India escalates border tensions, it could face military pressure from two or even three fronts, which is far beyond India's military capability and this might lead to a disastrous defeat for India.
And a defeat right now would be disastrous as rising Hindu nationalism will not accept such a failed outcome and the Modi administration will lose power, Hu said. He noted that Indian policymakers should not miscalculate the situation as some of them believe that the worsening China-US ties would provide a chance for India to challenge China, because India is not an important topic for neither China nor the US.
Chinese experts noted that the Modi administration should control pro-US forces in India, as unwise movements to provoke China could bring about serious consequences.
Abdus Sattar Ghazali is the Chief Editor of the Journal of America (www.journalofamerica.net) email: asghazali2011 (@) gmail.com
The Journal of America Team:
Editor in chief:
Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Senior Editor:
Prof. Arthur Scott
Special Correspondent
Maryam Turab
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