HIGH in the Himalayas, an explosive situation is brewing between China and India. In a clash between both militaries on Monday at the disputed frontier along the Line of Actual Control, at least 20 Indian troops were killed. No shots are reported to have been fired; the fatalities apparently occurred during hand-to-hand combat. Both states last fought a war in 1962, in which India was humbled; however, this front has been relatively quiet since the mid-1970s. This may change as there was some tough talk from Narendra Modi on Wednesday. The Indian prime minister threatened to give “a fitting reply” if provoked, while diplomats from both states have also issued strongly worded statements, though saying they would not escalate matters.

The recent border tensions between Beijing and New Delhi have been developing for several weeks. Troops from both sides had clashed in May, though senior Chinese and Indian generals had met earlier this month to defuse the crisis. It is apparent that these efforts failed to bear fruit, as Monday’s deadly exchange shows. Beijing says India’s men attacked its troops and intruded into Chinese territory “provoking and attacking Chinese personnel” in the latest confrontation. Unfortunately, India has a history of bullying its neighbours and trying to play regional hegemon. For example, discord recently arose between India and Nepal over a disputed region also in the Himalayas. Apparently, India is not happy with the territorial claims put forward by its comparatively tiny northern neighbour. Meanwhile, Pakistan has had to bear with India’s provocations for over seven decades; to this day, our eastern neighbour continues with its salvoes across the Line of Control, which has resulted in the loss of several precious lives on our side of the LoC.

India may harbour superpower delusions and throw its weight around the region, trying to dominate smaller states while exhibiting outright hostility towards Pakistan, but militarily and economically, there is little comparison between India and China, with the latter having the upper hand, which is why India will need to proceed with far more caution on this front. As Chinese officials have rightly said, both sides should resolve the dispute through dialogue. The fact is that instead of being a regional bully, India must learn to peacefully coexist with all its neighbours in the spirit of harmony and mutual respect; this includes solving all disputes — specifically border disputes — through dialogue instead of violence and threats. Pakistan has long stressed the need to address the Kashmir question at the table, a position India has arrogantly dismissed by repeating the fiction that the occupied valley is an ‘integral’ part of its territory. In a region with three nuclear states, war is not an option, something the jingoistic elements within the Indian establishment must realise. If India pursues the policy of live and let live, it will be a much better option for South Asia.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2020