While it has maintained roads to facilitate troop movements, India has largely neglected the border areas in Ladakh. Rising border tensions have however prompted a rethink, especially as China has built infrastructure more quickly on its side since the 2020 clash. In Chushul, the locals joked that the post-2020 Chinese threat was a blessing in disguise, as road construction and electrification of border villages is now speeding up. Yet they also point out that Tibetan nomads on the Chinese side are better off. Indeed, the Indian administration is struggling to meet the locals' demands for basic facilities such as medical services in these remote villages. The bottomline is that China always expects India to be 'sensitive' towards its territorial fancies while consistently flouting Indian sensitivities at will. India must stand firm on its ground that China has no right to stop India from carrying out the same activities related to infrastructure development and must make it recognise the right to mutual and equal security of the two sides. India ought long ago to have called China's bluff whenever the latter infringed into territories perceived by India as its own. China has lodged a protest with India alleging that the Indian Army crossed the boundary in the Sikkim section and demanded their immediate withdrawal. It also released photographs which purportedly showed Indian soldiers crossing the boundary wall. The face-off between the two armies have also affected the movement of pilgrims to Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in Tibet from the Nathula pass side. Chinese defence ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang had said that recently China has begun the construction of a road in Donglang region but was stopped by Indian troops crossing the Line of Actual Control (LAC). This book provides a comprehensive analysis of historical, geo-political and strategic perspectives on the Himalayan Frontiers of India. Drawing on detailed analyses by academics and area specialists, it explains the developments in and across the Himalayas and their implications for India.
About the Author:
Dr. Ashutosh Kumar, B.A. (Hons.), M.A., M.Phil., in Political Science is at present Associate Professor at Satyawati Co.ed. College, Deptt. of Political Science, Delhi University. He is teaching the subject for last fifteen years. He has attended a number of conferences and seminars and has several articles to his credit. He is also pursuing his Ph.D. |
