China, India must not allow nationalist fervour to inflame border conflict, observers say

Some officials in New Delhi think they can take advantage of the tensions between Beijing and Washington, Chinese academic says

China’s growing naval presence in the Indian Ocean has pushed Delhi to strengthen its ties with the US, Indian expert says

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Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are both facing a rising tide of nationalism at home. Photo: AP

Published: 10:00pm, 6 Jun 2020Updated: 8:16am, 7 Jun 2020

Diplomats and defence officials from China and India might have promised to work together to ease border tensions, but they must also strive to quell a rising tide of nationalism at home, observers say.

Despite 2020 marking 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, over the past month border tensions have once again been running high, with troops engaging in fist fights and stone-throwing in the Galwan River valley between Ladakh in Indian-administered Kashmir and Chinese-administered Aksai Chin.

Since their two-month military stand-off in Doklam in the summer of 2017, both Beijing and New Delhi have boosted their border defences. That dispute was sparked by China’s construction of a road in the area – known as Donglang in Mandarin – which is claimed by China and Bhutan, an ally of India.

While the cause of the latest conflict remains unclear, Sun Shihai, principal research fellow at the China Centre for South Asian Studies at Sichuan University in southwest China, said that India had taken advantage of the prevailing tensions between Beijing and Washington.

“India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is advocating aggressive unilateralism when dealing with border problems involving China, Pakistan and Myanmar,” he said.