India and China share an extremely excruciating relationship for decades. The border stiffness between the two most populous nations is not contemporary to anyone. Both the nuclear powers have been valiantly stimulating each other on the border. The root cause behind the disputes spun majorly around domination on geographical extents. The Sino-Indian war laid the footing of the torturous relationship between India and China. On October 20, 1962, the military troops of China confronted the Indian forces antagonistically when India declined the tactful proposals of China over the Himalayan dispute. The war finally ended on November 21, 1962, when China declared a ceasefire on the Indian troop. Despite numerous joint pacts and countless battles, the quarrel and rigidness haven’t faded away. The two Asian giants have been repetitively discovering the political, economic, and strategic ways to subvert each other.
Possibly, two decades after the belligerent war of 1962, the process of stabilization commenced between the nations. It was during 1988 when the Indian Prime Minister Mr. Rajiv Gandhi visited China. Since then, every visit by any political authority led to a new milestone in Indo-China relations and was pertinently named as Graduated Reciprocation in Tension Reduction (GRIT). Later in 2003, Atal Bihari Vajpayee went to China and made ten agreements and a ‘Declaration on Principles for Relations and Comprehensive Cooperation’ between India and China. In the concurrence, India recognized Tibet as the sovereign part of China while in exchange China conceded Sikkim as an Indian terrain, hence putting an end to another divisive episode. ‘A Strategic and Cooperative Partnership’ between the two nations was signed during the visit of Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao’s to India in 2005. It steered the principles and rules about the demarcating at the border with communal adjustment and consensus of both sides. It further held to enable China to ponder Arunachal Pradesh which is administered by India since independence as an Indian topographical district. Also, India consistently counted on the fact that no populated area would be swapped for any border. In barter, India settled on needed concessions on Aksai Chin through which Xinjiang-Tibet road runs.
The Doklam Incident is completely unforgettable in the history of the Indo-China conflict. It began in 2017 when the Chinese military intruded into the Doklam area, a disputed area between China and Bhutan, neighboring India. It is a tri-junction between India, China, and Bhutan. It connects Northeast India to other parts of the country. The thin borderline between the territories makes it a center for argument. China’s perpetual efforts to extend a road on the Doklam plateau southwards near the Doka La pass consequently led to a military standoff between the nations where India fought on behalf of Bhutan and upheld cordiality with the country. The standoff ended when India refused to drift apart and pushed back the Chinese force. Lately, India and China had multiple rounds of diplomatic responses over the dispute with India leading the skirmish.
The involvement of China in the military troops of PoL and Pok, which India considers to be illegally occupied by Pakistan, further kindles to the frigidity of the Indo-China relationship. Since 2002 China has been involved in the infrastructure projects of PoK. Despite continuous warnings, China didn’t cease its operations in PoK and PoL. And China’s around-the-clock meddling in these regions and diplomatic protest regarding the oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea of Vietnam (troubling India’s ONGC joint venture with Petro Vietnam) raised security apprehensions for India.
China’s unswerving sustenance to Pakistan further ignited the flame against its rapport with India. Although the nations have incessantly tried to reach to the resolutions, India has been impotent to embrace the backstabbing and treacherous attitude of China. To date, the frigidity between the nations has not liquefied and the border tension continues to persist.
