China-India stand-off: ‘narrow opportunity’ for foreign ministers to cool border tensions

Name: China, India accuse each other of firing shots in tense border region
Uploaded: 2020-09-10T00:00:24.000Z
Duration: 1 min 59 s
Description: China, India accuse each other of firing shots in tense border region

Breakthrough is unlikely at high-stakes talks in Moscow on Thursday, according to analysts

With neither side showing much willingness to back down, they say the tense confrontation may continue into winter

Reading Time:3 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

An Indian army convoy travels along a highway leading to Ladakh at Gagangeer in Kashmir on Wednesday. China and India have been engaged in a tense stand-off in the region since May. Photo: AP

Shi Jiangtao

Published: 8:00am, 10 Sep 2020Updated: 6:19pm, 10 Sep 2020

With both China and India hardening positions on the border dispute ahead of a high-stakes meeting between their foreign ministers, an agreement to de-escalate tensions along the Himalayan frontier looks unlikely, analysts say.

While such talks are critical given the risk of a bigger confrontation after shots were fired on Monday for the first time in 45 years, the grievances and hostility are not expected to ease any time soon.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar will on Thursday have their first face-to-face meeting since the military stand-off began in early May, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation gathering in Moscow. It comes after a meeting last Friday between the countries’ defence ministers failed to break the deadlock.

According to Zhao Gancheng, a researcher with the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, the latest incident – in which the two sides accused each other of firing shots near Pangong Lake in Ladakh – has given both countries a sense of urgency to try to cool the situation.

“The foreign ministers’ meeting comes at a delicate juncture for our long-lasting border row and despite all the difficulties and outstanding issues between the two countries, it presents a narrow opportunity for both sides to seek a political solution peacefully,” he said.

01:59

China, India accuse each other of firing shots in tense border region

Yun Sun, a senior fellow at the Stimson Centre in Washington, said the two sides were using both diplomatic and military talks to “maximise what they see as their national interests”.