China and India’s road to peace blocked as both sides build in border region

A lopsided approach to infrastructure development in the Himalayas is key sticking point as post-clash talks stall

Tensions remain high with Indian disagreement over equal rate of troop withdrawals from conflict zone

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India will press ahead with a strategic all-weather route from the northern state of Himachal Pradesh to the city of Leh in the union territory of Ladakh. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:00pm, 29 Aug 2020Updated: 11:17pm, 29 Aug 2020

Border talks between China and India have stalled, with road-building in the remote Himalayan region a key sticking point, according to analysts.

Foreign ministry officials from both sides said progress was made during last week’s round of talks, with agreement to continue the disengagement of troops. Progress has been slow in this area since a deadly mid-June clash in the Galwan Valley which left 20 Indians dead and an undisclosed number of Chinese casualties.

But Indian news reports indicated tensions remained high, with roads in the mountainous region a main point of contention. The Hindustan Times reported talks had broken down because China insisted on an equal rearward movement by both militaries.

Citing an Indian government source, the report said India had rejected this position, because the Chinese had better roads, making it faster and easier for them to approach conflict zones.

On Thursday, the same newspaper said India had drastically increased funding for strategic border road building and maintenance in the region since June, from US$46 million to US$60 million in the current financial year. Road maintenance funding rose has soared since June, up from US$4.1 million to US$30 million.

The development of roads and other infrastructure was a key cause of the Galwan Valley incident and is likely to cause future problems as India pushes to build up its transport links, according to Srikanth Kondapalli, professor of Chinese studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

“China has been building up roads and railways through Tibet for years, and India has recently ‘woken up’ to the lack of infrastructure on its side,” he said.

Both sides have been developing infrastructure on their respective sides of the contested border region in the vast, desolate and mountainous terrain between China’s Tibet autonomous region and India’s union territory of Ladakh.