World War 3: India and China top brass meet in bid to defuse tension at border

The dispute between the world’s two most populous nations has been a source of growing unease in recent weeks, with Frank O’Donnell, a Nonresident Fellow with the Stimson Center South Asia Program, warning Express.co.uk earlier this year there was a “real risk of escalation” if either side – both of which have nuclear weapons – miscalculated. Hundreds of soldiers from either side have been stationed in the remote snow desert of Ladakh since April in one of the most serious border flare-ups for years after Chinese patrols advanced into what India regards as its side of the de facto border.

Conversely, China claims the territory to be its own and has objected to India’s construction of roads in the Finger area around the Pangong Tso Lake.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, officials in Delhi said the two sides, led by India’s Lt General Harinder Singh and China’s Major General Liu Lin, made headway in talks held on Saturday.

After weeks of tension, including one incident during which patrolling soldiers from the two sides came to blows on the banks of Pangong Lake, resulting in injuries, friction has eased somewhat.

The two armies have now withdrawn some troops from the high-altitude region.

However, soldiers, tanks and other materiel remain, with the situation far from resolved.

One of the Indian officials said: “There has been some kind of disengagement, there will be more talks to resolve this over the next days, it could be weeks even.”

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India and China fought a brief border war in 1962 and have not been able to settle their border despite two decades of talks.

Both claim thousands of kilometres of territory and patrols along the undemarcated Line of Actual Control – the defacto border – often run into each other, leading to tensions.

Speaking in April, Mr O’Donnell said the incident was indicative of the tension which has characterised Sino-Indian relations for many years.

India and China fought a brief border war in 1962 and have not been able to settle their border despite two decades of talks.

Both claim thousands of kilometres of territory and patrols along the undemarcated Line of Actual Control – the defacto border – often run into each other, leading to tensions.

Speaking in April, Mr O’Donnell said the incident was indicative of the tension which has characterised Sino-Indian relations for many years.

Separately, Mr O’Donnell also singled out the hostile relationship between India and Pakistan, strategically aligned as it is with China, was another potential flashpoint.

He explained: “There is the continuing risk of a Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attack, or militant incursion, triggering an Indian military response and escalation spiral similar to what we saw in Feb-March 2019.

“China would be unlikely to be dragged in, beyond urging both sides to end hostilities, unless Indian forces struck Chinese forces, personnel, or installations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir or Pakistan.

“While this event would not necessarily automatically trigger Chinese military intervention, it would make it likelier than before.”

source: express.co.uk