China’s stern warning to India on deploying more border troops
After New Delhi’s move to free up 1,000 more troops to guard its borders with neighbouring China, Beijing warned India that increasing border troops won’t help in easing the tensions between the two rival nations. It further said that it is committed to de-escalating the tensions at the border areas.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said, “India enhancing military deployments in the India-China border areas does not help ease the situation in the border areas or in safeguarding tranquility and safety.”
Recently, India redirected thousands of its military personnel to the country’s western borders in an effort to protect its frontier with China, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing senior Indian officials who didn’t want to be named.
While warning that assigning more troops to the borders won’t help in easing the tensions between the two nations, China’s foreign ministry said that Beijing will continually work with India to maintain peace in these disturbance-prone areas.
Mao Ning said at a press briefing, “China is committed to working with India to safeguard the tranquility and stability of the border areas.”
Apart from the 1,000 troops assigned to the borders recently, an existing contingent of 9,000 troops already designated to the Chinese border will be brought under the new fighting command. The combined force will guard a roughly 530 km (330 mile) stretch of border that separates China’s Tibet region with India’s northern states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
Worsening ties since Galwan clash
In May 2020, Chinese forces led a resistance against the Indian authorities for the construction of a road in the Galwan River valley. After minor disturbances between the two forces, shots were fired along the LAC for the first time in 45 years, with both Indian and Chinese forces blaming one another.
After multiple casualties in the Galwan clash, diplomatic talks began between India and China, with little to no progress over 21 rounds. Beijing and New Delhi have since upgraded military-related infrastructure, moved missiles and aircraft to either side of their border and placed more troops in the area.
In 2021, India repositioned an extra 50,000 soldiers to patrol the border after a deadly clash the year before left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead and seriously strained ties.