India irritates China by moving 10,000 soldiers to the Himalayan border
India has deployed a contingent of 10,000 soldiers, previously deployed on the western border, i.e. with Pakistan, to strengthen the disputed border with China, as reported by several media. China believes that this move on a difficult and disputed border "is not conducive to easing tensions," a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Friday. The news was reported by Reuters
The two countries have previously agreed to maintain dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and recently held a constructive meeting on resolving border issues in the western section of the China-India border.
India has deployed 10,000 soldiers from its western border to guard the 532km-long border with China in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, bordering the Himalayas, according to Indian media.
“China is committed to working with India to safeguard the peace and stability of the border areas,” said Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry. “We believe that India's practice is not conducive to safeguarding peace and is not conducive to easing tensions.” It must also be said that peace for Beijing only exists when all its demands are accepted.
Mao added that "India's increased military deployments in the border areas do not help calm the situation in the border areas or safeguard peace and security in these areas."
A necessary move also for environmental reasons
India and China share a 3,800km border, much of it poorly demarcated and mapped out over 150 years ago, thus becoming the basis of disputes between the two countries
As the Indian army has learned the hard way, it is not possible to move troops quickly into disputed areas, almost all of which are at high altitude. As the border war of October-November 1962 taught us, troops cannot be moved from the plains of India to altitudes above 5,000 meters without an adequate acclimatization process which requires a few weeks.
Therefore, if India wants to carry out a deterrent activity against China, it cannot leave its troops and its vehicles in the barracks downstream, but must push them to the borders, in high areas, precisely so that they are ready to intervene in case of necessity.
After the 1962 war, which ended in a resounding defeat for India, there were repeated clashes, albeit less serious, between the two sides. The last serious incident occurred in 2020 when Chinese and Indian soldiers clashed with bare fists and sticks and there were at least 20 deaths among the Indians and four among the Chinese, although there is doubt whether there were more.
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This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/lindia-irrita-la-cina-spostando-10-mila-soldati-sul-confine-himalayano/ on Mon, 11 Mar 2024 11:05:43 +0000.