By Aakriti Bachhawat
China’s expanded claims and a likely change of government in India could raise tensions in a strategic region.
China has been stepping up claims to territories abutting its borders, land, sea and now air. One of the more recent additions to its interests is Arunachal Pradesh, a northeast Indian state that China recognizes as “South Tibet.” Indian President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to the state in late November and his speech calling the area an “integral and important part of India” have generated an angry response from Beijing. This came barely one month after an agreement to resolve border disputes peacefully was signed by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. Beijing’s increasing assertiveness and growing territorial claims raise important questions about China’s intentions and strategic direction.
China has a long-standing border dispute with India in the eastern sector of the Himalayas along India’s north-east and China’s south-western boundaries. The impenetrability of these terrains along with undefined, ambiguous borders has resulted in overlapping claims of ownership from the two Asian giants. The 1962 Sino-Indian war was the first salvo in what has become a troubled history. Since then, relations between India and China have tended to concentrate on maintaining the status-quo on the borders, leaving the onus for resolving these disputes on future generations. However, with China’s growing assertiveness in territorial disputes in recent years, the border has once again become a battleground for the testing of wills and resilience.
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