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Instead of easing the border conflict between India and China, there is a military deployment and accusations from both sides. Recently there have been attempts to defuse the situation.
By Bernd Musch-Borowska, ARD Studio South Asia
The border conflict with China is not over, said Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh during the parliamentary session in Delhi. A few days after the agreement between the foreign ministers of the two nuclear powers to defuse tensions along the border line in the Himalayas, the military deployment in the Himalayas intensified.
Indian Air Force fighter jets fly over the region, as shown in images from the Reuters news agency. India has doubled its investments to strengthen the border, Rajnath Singh told the Lok Sabah MPs.
“The government has doubled the budget for the improvement of border fortifications. As a result, more roads and bridges are now being built in this region.”
Fire exchange in June
China is doing the same, and tensions are rising along the unofficial border between the Indian High Mountain Territory of Ladakh and the Chinese-controlled Tibetan Autonomous Region. Border guards on both sides have clashed over and over again for months. In the June fire exchanges, both sides are said to have died. There are no confirmed figures for this.
China has all the agreements on the course of the call LAC real control line Said Defense Minister Singh during the debate in Parliament in Delhi.
“The recent incidents caused by Chinese soldiers violate our mutual agreement. The Chinese side has mobilized a large number of forces on the border, along LAC and in the interior. However, I would like to assure Parliament that although we are fighting for a peaceful solution, our armed forces are prepared for anything that may happen. “
Military exercises in the border area
Last weekend, a large-scale military exercise began in Tibet at an altitude of 5,000 meters, with tanks and other heavy weapons. The Reuters news agency distributed CCTV footage from Chinese state television of the Chinese armed forces’ maneuver involving units from various branches of the armed forces.
However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin denied the Indian side’s allegations that China had laid cables in the border area to improve military communications.
“As far as I know, this information is incorrect. The foreign ministers of China and India agreed at their meeting in Moscow not to allow tensions along the border to escalate and to keep the conversation in the usual channels.”
A direct war between India and China does not benefit either country. China is militarily superior to its rival India. As the Stockholm peace research institute SIPRI found in its latest report, China spends more than USD 260 billion a year on its armed forces, while India only spends around 71 billion. China is also far ahead when it comes to nuclear weapons. According to the SIPRI report, China is estimated to have 320 nuclear warheads and India around 150.
