China Has Lost A Friend In Ladakh

During his visit to Nimu, near Leh (Ladakh), Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with the Indian troops facing the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on the border; in his address, Modi stated: “Indians can go about their lives peacefully because they know that our Armed Forces are standing firm, protecting the nation.”

- Claude Arpi

Connected or not with the visit, two days later, probably feeling that the wind was turning, the Chinese asked for talks. For Beijing, the situation had taken unexpected turns; the Communist leadership had not realised that Delhi could take retaliatory measures so fast.

Wang Yi, China’s clever Special Representative (SR) and Minister of Foreign Affairs, spoke on the phone for two hours with Ajit Doval, his Indian counterpart and National Security Advisor.

Status quo question

The two SRs agreed that maintenance of peace in the border areas was essential and “[the] two sides should not allow differences to become disputes.” It is China who created the ‘differences’, not India. The SRs also spoke of the necessity to ensure “at the earliest complete disengagement of the troops along the LAC and de-escalation from India-China border areas.”

Indian observers are doubtful that the so-called disengagement would be sincerely completed. Geo-strategist Brahma Chellaney, wrote in a newspaper column: “A full return to status quo ante as sought by India seems remote, thanks to India’s own mixed signals. By encroaching on additional areas behind the previous disengagement facade, China has armed itself with greater leverage to impose a revised status quo.”