29 June 2021; MEMO: India has mobilised 50,000 additional troops to LAC with China, the world’s second biggest economy, despite several rounds of talks between the two countries to diffuse the current tensions. India now has about 200,000 troops focused on the border.
The move comes after a period of calm following a fighting last year that saw India lose control over about 300 square kilometers of land the LAC, and 20 of its soldiers.
Since fighting, Indian government has sought to ease tensions with Islamabad and concentrate primarily on countering Beijing.
Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singhwas in Ladakh recently to review military preparedness , while Indian PM Narendra Modi invited JK leaders for talks in Delhi, most of whom were jailed or house arrested for months after Article 370 was removed from the constitution.
According to Bloomberg, the fear now is that a miscalculation could lead to an even deadlier conflict. Several recent rounds of military-diplomatic talks with China have made minimal progress toward a return to the quiet status quo that had prevailed along the border for decades.
“Having so many soldiers on either side is risky when border management protocols have broken down,” said D. S. Hooda, a lieutenant general and former Northern Army commander in India. “Both sides are likely to patrol the disputed border aggressively. A small local incident could spiral out of control with unintended consequences.”
The reorientation means India at all times will have more troops acclimatized to fight in the high-altitude Himalayans, while the number of troops solely earmarked for the western border with Pakistan will be reduced, reported Bloomberg.
The latest shift comes as Corona pandemic ravages India’s population and the economy contracts by the worst in four decades, leaving less money for defence.
India is also stepping up security cooperation with fellow Quad partners — the U.S., Japan and Australia — hoping to gain some leverage against China.
“The crisis over the last year has brought home the reality to India’s decision makers that China presents the biggest strategic challenge in the future, and it has led to shifting the attention away from Pakistan,” Sushant Singh, a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research and visiting lecturer at Yale University told Bloomberg.
Sana Hashmi, a visiting fellow at the Taipei-based Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation told Bloomberg that despite India’s strategic shift and the troop movements, China retains an advantage along the border.
“The economic and military asymmetry will remain in place,” she said. “And there is a long way to go for India to bridge this asymmetry.”
