Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'When will Indo-China relations improve?' that was published in Newsband

When will Indo-China relations improve?

India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and China’s State Councillor Yang Jiechi discussed on the boundary question. There has been a period of extreme strain in India-China ties, including the 70-day troop stand-off at Doklam this year. There is a need to define the guidelines for the settlement of border disputes, formulate a framework agreement on the implementation of the guidelines, and complete border demarcation. Differences must not be allowed to become disputes

India-China relations “are a factor of stability” in an increasingly unstable world. Since 2013, when the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement was signed, there has been a steady decline in relations in all spheres. The border has seen more transgressions, people-to-people ties have suffered amid mutual suspicion, and China’s and India’s forays into each other’s water areas. This is the outcome of China’s ambition of geopolitical domination.

It is clear that China is targeting India. The proofs are China’s Belt and Road Initiative with the economic corridor with Pakistan, the free trade agreement with the Maldives, and the blocking of India’s membership bid at the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Since the 50s, we have suffered continuously at the hands of the Chinese. First, it grabbed Tibet and deprived the natural buffer between the two nations, then it clandestinely built a Highway, G219, across occupied-Aksai Chin, it started claiming more Indian territories as its own, refused to accept the existing border agreements, started a war to 'teach us a lesson' when the attention of the whole world was focussed on Cuba, agreed to a border arrangement with Pakistan over our lands and took away the Shaksgam Valley illegally, started using Pakistan as a cat's paw to needle and contain us, transferred nuclear-weapons, their technologies, missiles and their blueprints and dual-use components to Pakistan to threaten us with them, supported terrorist groups in our North East states, opposed our membership at all international fora (ASEAN, APEC, UNSC, NSG etc), and has been recently opposing our anti-terror moves.

India is doing everything to remain safe and maintain its sovereignty in the heavily unstable Indian Ocean region. We do not have any expansionist agenda unlike our neighbor. We are doing things because they stole our land and built road on it, saying that it would be good for everyone (they meant only themselves?). Unless we strengthen ourselves much more than our present state, we wouldn't be able to survive the movements of China which doesn't seem peaceful from any angle.

Border disputes between both countries are old and remain unresolved. For establishing peaceful relations, there should be a clear cut agreement on borders and their demarcation lines.