India's issues with China now harder to resolve: Analyst

Both sides unlikely to compromise, given view of weakened’ Modi after polls, he says

- Varun Karthik

A resolution to the border disputes between India and China is even more improbable in the coming months, with both sides more unlikely to make any concessions after India's recent election, a foreign policy analyst said.

"Essentially, if the Chinese sense (that) Modi has weakened, the prospect for political accommodation from the Chinese side would be even less," said Professor C. Raja Mohan, referring to India's caretaker Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Some Chinese media outlets were already suggesting that Mr Modi was returning for a third term with a diminished stature and that the Americans were thus going to "dump him", noted Prof Mohan, a visiting research professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) of the National University of Singapore.

"There was some expectation that if Modi came back with a strong mandate, he would be in a position to take a fresh look and negotiate (with the Chinese)," he said.

He noted that there has also been a shift within India in its views towards China, with the main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, which was traditionally softer on China, now taking a more hawkish stance on it.

"Congress party says, look, Modi has surrendered territory, Modi keeps quiet, (he) doesn't say a word about Chinese occupation of Indian territory. So in a way, already the Indian internal position (on China) has actually become harder, with Congress and BJP agreeing with each other, and that leaves little room for any government, weak or strong, to make major compromises with China," he said.