News Report: ‘No War, No Peace’ - India Raises Military Alert Level Over China Border Dispute

The standoff between China and India along the Doklam Plateau has shown no signs of de-escalating, as India continues to bolster its strength and increase operational readiness along the border.

New Delhi raised the military alertness level as a "matter of caution," according to anonymous sources speaking to Reuters. The level in question is known as "no war, no peace," and instructs the soldiers to take defensive positions. 

India sends its troops onto "operational alert" every year in the fall — but this year the state has been activated early. "It's out of caution. It has been done because of the situation," the anonymous source told Reuters. "The troop level along the border with China in the Sikkim and Arunachal sectors [next to Doklam] has been increased," another anonymous official told the India Times.

New Delhi is split over its next course of action. On August 4, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called for a bilateral troop retreat to increase the chances of a peaceful resolution, while Defense Minister Arun Jaitley told the National Parliament on Friday that the military was "prepared to take on any eventuality" in the stand-off. 

News Report: New Delhi on China's Claims - Northern Arunachal Pradesh 'Integral Part of India'

India's foreign ministry spokesman stressed that the state of Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of the country. Yesterday, Beijing said an area of the state should be ceded to China.

NEW DELHI (Sputnik) — The northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh on the border with China is an essential part of the country, Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Gopal Baglay told Sputnik on Friday.

"Our stand on Arunachal Pradesh remains same. Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India," Baglay said.

On Thursday, former Special Representative of China on the boundary talks with India Dai Bingguo stated that the Tawang province in Arunachal Pradesh was an "inalienable" part of Tibet and that the dispute between the parties could only be settled if India agreed to cede the province to China.

The official added that, in return, China would make concessions in Aksai Chin region, which India claims to be part of Ladakh region in the northern Jammu and Kashmir state.

This story first appeared on Sputnik & is reposted here with permission.

Editorial: India, China to Hold Military Exercise Despite Border Skirmish

By Prashanth Parameswaran

Beijing and New Delhi will hold the fifth iteration of their ‘Hand-in-Hand’ exercises.

India and China are set to hold a round of bilateral exercises next month in spite of border tensions over the past few weeks, officials confirmed last week.

According to Indian defense sources, the two militaries will hold the fifth edition of their “Hand in Hand” exercises in Kunming, Yunnan province for two weeks from October 11.

The exercise, which is meant to alternate between India and China, is part of a series of confidence-building measures that the two Asian giants have put in place to manage tensions between them, including on border issues.

As I have noted previously, border disputes between Beijing and New Delhi largely center around two separate pieces of territory: Aksai Chin and what India terms Arunachal Pradesh (or, for China, Southern Tibet), the latter being the site of the Sino-Indian war in 1962. But ambiguity still remains on other matters, including Sikkim, and other irritants tend to be dragged in as well like India’s harboring of the Dalai Lama and China’s alleged “string of pearls” strategy allegedly designed to strangle New Delhi.

Read the full story at The Diplomat