Striking a conciliatory note after incidents on the India-China border, India on Thursday invoked the spirits of the Wuhan and Mahabalipuram summits in which both sides had reaffirmed that they will make efforts to “ensure peace and tranquility in the border areas”. The Ministry of External Affairs said, “Occasionally, however, on account of difference in perception of the alignment of the Line of Actual Control, situations have arisen on the ground that could have been avoided if we had a common perception of the LAC.” The Army Chief said in a statement that “temporary and short duration faceoffs between border guarding troops do occur along the LAC due to the differing perceptions of the alignment of boundaries which are not resolved”. Indian and Chinese soldiers in the Naku La area in north Sikkim and Pangong Tso in eastern Ladakh were involved in scuffles and stone-pelting in the first week of May.
Current Scenario

• The recent clash happened three years after the Doklam stand-off between India and China (2017), which was also experienced across the border in Sikkim.
• Doklam, or Donglang in Chinese, is an area spread over less than a 100 sq km comprising a plateau and a valley at the trijunction between India, Bhutan and China.
• The Doklam issue was discussed in the Wuhan Summit (2018) and two nations decided to issue "strategic guidance" to their militaries to strengthen communications so that they can build trust and understanding but differences over the border were being settled at the lowest level.
• Two incidents of face-off have been reported between Indian and Chinese troops at the border. The first incident occurred in eastern Ladakh near Pangong Tso lake, a major part of which China holds. The reported face off has resulted in injuries to several soldiers of both armies.
• Pangong Tso has witnessed such incidents in the past, including in 2017 and 2019. The second incident occurred at Naku La, Sikkim, at an altitude of over 16,000 feet. As a result of aggressive behaviour, minor injuries were caused to both sides.

Why China played such kind of tactics?

• China has been engaged in aggressive diplomacy with western countries, which have sought clarity on the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic that has crippled the world economy, and led to almost four million people across the globe falling ill.
• It has also reported that China has established new administrative districts for the Spratly and Paracel archipelagos in the South China Sea.
• China has also named 80 islands and other geographical features in the sea, claiming sovereignty over underwater features in the contested region.
• Taiwan’s status has led to a series of bizarre interactions involving international organizations where a support from U.S. move to reinstate Taiwan’s observer status at the World Health Assembly.
• The economic damage from coronavirus is also a blow to China's global ambitions. It has poured vast sums into infrastructure projects in Asia and Africa under its Belt and Road Initiative. The goal is to create a vast economic sphere of influence, increasing its global stature.

Why Chinese built pressure on India amid Covid-19?

• India is set to take over as the next Chairperson of the World Health Organization’s decision-making executive body in May 2020 under which it likely to hold the post for the next three years.
• The timing of the appointment is crucial, given the worldwide debate on the role of the WHO during the pandemic, and criticism of the WHO Director.
• But tensions between the U.S. and China rise over the novel coronavirus pandemic.
• By which India is faced with a major choice on whether to support a U.S. move to reinstate Taiwan’s observer status at the World Health Assembly (WHA) or to China’s opposition to it.

Border Location between India-China

• Naku La Sector: It is a mountain pass in Sikkim at an altitude of above 5000 meters. It is located ahead of Muguthang or Cho Lhamu (source of River Teesta). At Muguthang, the road on the Chinese side is motorable, and on the Indian side, it is a remote area. The other passes located in the state of Sikkim are Nathu La Pass and Jelep La Pass.
• Pangong Tso Lake: It is an endorheic lake in the Himalayas located in the Union Territory of Ladakh. It extends from India to the Tibetan Autonomous Region, China. It is not a part of the Indus river basin area and geographically a separate landlocked river basin. Extending to almost 160km, one-third of the Pangong Lake lies in India and the other two-thirds in China.

McMahon Line

• The 890-km McMahon Line separating British India and Tibet was drawn by Sir Henry McMahon at the China-Tibet-Britain Simla Convention (1914).
• The line marked out previously unclaimed/undefined borders between Britain and Tibet. Also the Line put Tawang (a region of the present Arunachal Pradesh) in the British empire.
• The line was forgotten until the British government published the documents in 1937. Subsequently, China refused to accept the line.

Line of Actual Control

• The Line of Actual Control (LAC) is the effective border between India and China.
• LAC was supposed to divide areas under Indian and Chinese control since the end of the Sino-Indian War of 1962.
• Unlike the LoC (between India and Pakistan), the LAC was not mutually agreed upon. This was because the war ended with a unilateral ceasefire by China.

Road Ahead

• Both countries can effectively use their soft power (in the form of tourism) to further integrate their economies because a strong India-China relationship is important not only for the mutual benefit of the people of India and China, but also for the region and the world.
• The problems between India and China are difficult to be resolved in the short run but by managing the relationship by minimising the existing strategic gap, narrowing the divergences and maintaining the status quo, it can be improved over time. For this purpose, increased engagement with China at every level from government to people, academia, business, etc. has to be targeted.