Sanjha Morcha

Ladakh standoff could ‘continue for a little longer’, says China’s Global Times

In a piece that appeared Monday, Chinese paper, however, says that the military commanders’ meeting Saturday may have prevented a Doklam-like situation.

Pangong lake | Commons

New Delhi: The border tensions between India and China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Ladakh region could “continue for a little longer”, according to the Global Times, a leading English daily backed by the Chinese government.

In an article that appeared Monday, the newspaper, citing experts, said that although talks between Indian and Chinese military commanders on Saturday “resulted in positive agreements”, the situation remains complex.

“The ongoing border issues between China and India will not likely escalate into another Doklam standoff after military commanders from both sides held talks on Saturday that resulted in positive agreements on peacefully resolving the situation … However, due to the complexity of the situation, the military standoff could continue for a little longer,” the article said citing an expert.

According to the expert — Qian Feng, a senior fellow at the Taihe Institute and director of the research department of the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University in Beijing — cited in the article, “the recent talks involved high-ranking officers from both militaries, indicating that both sides are paying great attention to the situation and do not want to escalate it”.

Both India and China, the article noted, showed “strategic wisdom to see through the US’ ulterior motive” in its effort to mediate between New Delhi and Beijing, especially when tensions between the US and China are rising.

 ‘Will not be another Doklam’ 

The article also highlighted that the present standoff will not turn into another Doklam, where both sides were engaged in a 73-day face-off at a trijunction between India, Bhutan and China.

“Both sides have gained a great deal of experience from the Doklam incident in 2017, and since then, all kinds of bilateral mechanisms including on military, diplomatic and local issues have been established, which has eliminated the possibility of an incident escalating into a crisis,” the newspaper added.

However, it also added that “concrete issues” between India and China are still remaining to be resolved.

“That being said, the ongoing standoff is not likely to end immediately, as concrete issues must still be resolved,” the paper quoted Qian as having said. “The trigger of the event, India’s construction of infrastructure on Chinese territory, must be stopped, or China will not accept the situation.”

India and China have held two rounds of talks since Friday at a diplomatic as well as military levels to mitigate the tensions that have erupted in the border areas, especially in the Ladakh region.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, both sides will “continue the military and diplomatic engagements to resolve the situation and to ensure peace and tranquility in the border areas”.


Also read: Ladakh standoff continues, India ‘prepared for long haul if needed’