In what many believe is a necessary move, India has told its armed forces to get ready for the possibility of war against China due to the escalating conflict over the Line Of Actual Control (LAC). This means that the military needs to stock up on emergency procurements and other needed items as a precautionary move if things turn sour with the long-disputed border conflict between the two countries.
According to the India Economic Times, the government has given their armed forces the go signal to deploy their assets along the Malacca Strait, as well as any other area in the Indo-Pacific that is being challenged by China.
The two countries held high-level talks that turned bloody for the first time in 40 years a few weeks back. Dozens of troops from India and China were killed at a contested border in the Galwan River valley, which is located in the Ladakh region in the Himalayas.
The events have caused the military to be on a “warlike alert,” with the Indian Air Force (IAF) awaiting approval to buy 33 fighter aircrafts from none other than Russia. The purchase is hoping to include “12 Sukhoi 30 MKI and 21 Mig-19 fighter jets.”
After such a large loss of military personnel from both sides, a news report was released saying that Indian Diplomat Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and Chinese Diplomat Minister Wang Yi, discussed things over a phone call, agreeing that the conflict needs sometime to “cool down.”
Despite China saying that their side has calmed down since the incident, India is leaving nothing to chance and remains on high alert in case of potential war. Supposedly, China has “begun cyberattacks against Indian infrastructure,” which includes financial services – like ATMS – as well as certain government information websites.
During a press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, cited that the ongoing situation is “stable and controllable.”
“We believe that guided by the important consensus reached between the two leaders, China and India can properly deal with the current situation, jointly uphold peace and stability in the border areas, and ensure a sound and steady development of bilateral relations,” he added.
Lijian also shared that both parties are in talks as to how to solve the ongoing border issue explaining, “As the world’s two largest developing countries and emerging economies, China and India have far more common interests than differences. The two sides should follow the important consensus reached by leaders of the two countries and ensure that China-India relations move in the right direction in line with the interests and expectations of both nations.”
Despite this, Mr. Lijian still blamed India for the altercation, saying, “The whole thing happened because India’s frontline troops, in violation of the agreement reached at the Commander-level meeting, once again crossed the Line of Actual Control for deliberate provocation, and even violently attacked the Chinese officers and soldiers who went to the terrain for negotiation, thus triggering fierce physical conflicts and causing casualties.”
Although China blames India for the heavy loss of life, they were also flexing their military arms with their own tanks doing drills in high altitude conditions, making many believe they were at fault. Because of this, NATO is now on the lookout, with U.S. representative Kay Bailey Hutchison explaining that China is on their watchlist due to other ongoing disputes with countries aside from India, like Taiwan and Japan.
Hutchison stated, “It’s much more on our radar screen, and I think it should be because we should assess the risk, hope for the best but prepare for the worst.” He added, “So we know that China has the capability to compete on a level playing field, and we’re asking them to do that, but we’re also turning a wary eye to their behavior right now in the South China Sea, militarizing islands that they said would never be done, as well as the clampdown on Hong Kong.”
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump is “aware” of the situation yet there are “no formal plans” to get in between the conflict between India and China.
Since the bloody clash occurred a few weeks before, more recent talks were held on June 30. A tweet by ANI explained that there was a meeting between “third senior military commander level” of China and India were held to discuss how to “de-escalate” the situation and prioritize the “disengagement at the faceoff sites along the LAC.”
While both sides have agreed on “expeditious, phased and stepwise de-escalation” of the situation, they have yet to agree on an actual solution to “ensure peace along the LAC as per bilateral agreements.” But until that day comes, India and all the other countries feeling threated by China should probably remain on high alert.
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