Chinese and Indian troops have been fighting since the beginning of May across LAC in eastern Ladakh.
Washington:
The Chinese government had “planned” the June Galwan incident even as Beijing intensified its multi-year campaign of coercion against its neighbors, sparking military or paramilitary clashes with countries from Japan to India, the US top panel said in its published report. on Wednesday.
Months after the Galwan clashes that resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers, the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) in its report ‘2020 Report to Congress of the Economic and Security Review Commission US-China ” said: “Some evidence suggested that the Chinese government had planned the (Galwan) incident, potentially including the possibility of deaths.”
The report read: “In June 2020, the PLA and Indian troops engaged in a massive physical fight in the Galwan Valley, located in the western region of Ladakh along the Royal Line of Control (LAC) that separates the The clash, which followed a series of clashes that began in early May alongside multiple sectors of LAC, resulted in at least 20 Indian deaths and an unconfirmed number of Chinese casualties, the first time since 1975 that lives were lost. in combat between the two parties. “
“Beijing intensified its multi-year campaign of coercion against its neighbors, sparking military or paramilitary clashes with countries from Japan to India to much of Southeast Asia. Shortly after China’s defense minister urged Beijing to use military force To stabilize its periphery, a violent clash on the China-India border in June caused the first loss of life between the two countries since 1975, “he said.
Quoting Tanvi Madan, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, the report said: “According to Dr. Madan, if China’s goal of its actions was to” acquire territory … [the Chinese government] However, if Beijing intended to dissuade India from building infrastructure on its LAC side or warn it not to align with the United States, “then Chinese actions have been ineffective, if not counterproductive.”
“Some evidence suggested that the Chinese government had planned the incident, potentially including the possibility of deaths. For example, several weeks before the confrontation, Defense Minister Wei made his statement encouraging Beijing to” use the struggle to promote stability. ” the report said.
Citing another incident prior to the Galwan clashes, he said: “Just over two weeks before the incident, in another potential indication that Chinese leaders are signaling their intention to escalate tensions, an editorial in the China state tabloid Global Times warned that India would suffer a “devastating blow” to its trade and economic ties with China if it became involved in the rivalry between the United States and China Satellite images showed a large accumulation of Chinese in the Galwan Valley, including potentially 1,000 PLA soldiers, the week before the deadly skirmish. “
The US top panel said that while the two countries have had “multiple physical clashes along their border,” “since Secretary-General Xi took office in 2012, the two countries have seen five major altercations along the way. along its border “. “The exact motivations behind the provocative behavior of the Chinese government in LAC this year remain unclear.”
Chinese and Indian troops have been fighting since the beginning of May throughout LAC in eastern Ladakh.
The situation throughout LAC deteriorated in June following the clash in the Galwan Valley in which both sides suffered casualties.
Twenty Indian soldiers lost their lives in the violent clash on June 15-16. It occurred as a result of an attempt by Chinese troops to unilaterally change the status quo during the de-escalation in eastern Ladakh.
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