Chinese warning

China’s growing discomfort over closer ties between India and America is evident in the Pentagon’s latest report to the US Congress. It says that Chinese officials have warned their US counterparts not to interfere in Beijing’s relationship with New Delhi, adding that ‘the PRC (People’s Republic of China) seeks to prevent border tensions from causing India to partner more closely with the United States.’ The report reaffirms Beijing’s intent to delink the prolonged border standoff from other aspects of its bilateral exchange with India. In contrast, New Delhi has been insisting that maintaining peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is a prerequisite for the normalisation of overall ties.

China has also objected to the ongoing India-US military exercises taking place about 100 km from the LAC. Earlier this year, China had reacted sharply to comments by US Army’s Pacific Commanding General Charles A Flynn, who had termed the situation in eastern Ladakh as alarming and red-flagged Chinese infrastructure build-up along the LAC. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian had accused American officials of adding fuel to fire and stated that Beijing and New Delhi had the ‘will and capability’ to resolve their differences through talks. However, China has repeatedly failed to match its conciliatory words with verifiable action to reduce hostilities on the ground. Even as military commanders of the two nations have held 16 rounds of talks in the past two years, the Chinese have remained elusive on the disengagement of troops from the friction points of Depsang and Demchok.

The trust deficit between India and China has spurred Washington to strengthen defence and strategic cooperation with New Delhi. The US sees India as a key ally in the region which can possibly deter China from throwing its weight around. The Dragon wants to focus on business instead of the boundary dispute for an obvious reason: India’s trade deficit with the neighbour has gone up to around $75 billion. While calling out China for its half-hearted approach towards ending the border standoff, New Delhi also needs to recalibrate trade ties and reduce dependence on Chinese imports.