The clash on the Indo-China border has finally settled. Since 5 May 2020, Chinese and Indian troops have engaged in aggressive standoffs on the border. These skirmishes took place at the Sino-Indian border, Pangong Lake area in Ladakh, the Tibet Autonomous Region and areas along the Line of Actual Control(LAC).
Reactions of India and China
After the Galwan valley clash on June 15 2020, matters took a serious turn. Chinese flags and effigies were set on fire in various places across India. Earlier many people like Sonam Wangchuk had propagated ideas to boycott chinese products, but the Galwan Valley attack triggered a mass movement called Atmanirbhar Bharat, wherein Chinese goods were banned from India. The Indian Railways cancelled all contracts with Chinese firms, the protest was seen in every facet from small business to big government contracts. The Indian Government banned several Chinese apps. Around 224 Chinese apps have been banned under the Atmanirbhar Mission. On 8th August, Buisness Today reported that the China’s export has fallen 24.7 percent year on year as per the Government of India customs data.
Whereas China has taken no such steps. Although they have refused to take responsibility of the feuds on the border, Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party suggested “battle preparedness” in the PLA meetings. He urged the Chinese army “to prepare for the worst-case scenarios” and “to scale up battle preparedness.”
Agreement between India and China
After the growing tensions between India and China on the border areas for four months, External Affairs Minister of India, S. Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi had a face to face meeting on 11th of September, 2020, in Moscow and came to an agreement of Five Point plan to reduce the tension at the Line of Actual Control. These five points are briefed below:
- Both India and China should abide by the consensus of their respective leaders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping to “Not allow differences become disputes.”
- The two ministers agreed that the present situation at the border is not in the interest of either side. Therefore, both troops should continue their dialogue, quickly disengage and maintain proper distance to ease tensions.
- They further agreed that the two sides should follow all the existing protocols on China-India boundary affairs, maintain peace and avoid any escalatory actions.
- The two sides will continue their communication through the Special Representatives NSA Ajit Doval and Mr. Wang and Working Mechanism for Consultations and Coordination (WMCC) on border affairs should also continue its meetings.
- With the easing of the tensions, the two sides should expediently work towards concluding new Confidence Building Measures and maintain peace and tranquility at the borders.
