Opinion | China-India border clash: civil words cannot hide the lack of trust

Name: Explained: the history of China’s territorial disputes
Uploaded: 2020-09-15T21:45:16.000Z
Duration: 6 min 24 s
Description: Explained: the history of China’s territorial disputes

The joint statement released after the Chinese and Indian foreign ministers met in Moscow reiterates old formulations, and the divergence in media reports on it only highlights the bitterness that has built up since May

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An Indian Border Security Force member guards a national highway leading to the Ladakh region in June. India said Chinese troops carried out military manoeuvres in a bid to “change the status quo” on the disputed Himalayan border, but they were blocked by Indian soldiers. Photo: DPA

C. Uday Bhaskar

Published: 5:45am, 16 Sep 2020Updated: 5:56am, 16 Sep 2020

The foreign ministers of India and China met in Moscow on September 10 on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting to defuse military tensions that have been building up on the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC) since early May. Thousands of troops are estimated to be in the Ladakh region, along Pangong Lake.

Against this backdrop, the more positive outcome of the Moscow meeting is that there has been no breakdown of dialogue between the two Asian giants and a joint statement was issued, after talks which reportedly got “a little heated”. A five-point consensus was arrived at to ease tensions, but closer scrutiny of the agreement would indicate this does not point to a breakthrough.

It appears that both India and China did not want to disappoint their host, Russia, and so a joint statement was agreed upon.

It is ironic that the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation charter of 2002 highlights strengthening “mutual trust, friendship and good neighbourliness” among the member states as one of its major goals. At this point, the India-China relationship is floundering under a massive trust deficit. A review of the Moscow five-point agreement reveals the fault lines and contradictions.

The five points are anodyne in their content and reiterate earlier formulations: “do not allow differences to become disputes”, “troops … should continue dialogue, quickly disengage, maintain proper distance and ease tensions”, and so on.

06:24

Explained: the history of China’s territorial disputes

But even before the ink was dry on the joint agreement, both sides issued separate statements to their domestic constituency. Here the fine print was very divergent on critical issues.

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