China India dispute: the US sides with New Delhi
The United States intervened in a heated territorial dispute between India and China, decisively taking New Delhi's side.
A State Department official said the United States "recognizes" the state of Arunachal Pradesh as part of India and rejects attempts by others to assert control over the territory. China claims ownership of the area, which it calls Zangnan, or southern Tibet.
“We strongly oppose any unilateral attempt to make territorial claims through incursions or encroachments, military or civilian, across the Line of Actual Control,” Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesman for the US State Department, told reporters in Washington late this evening. on Wednesday, when asked about China's position.
The Sela Tunnel, built by India in the disputed area of Zangnan-Arunachal Pradesh
Tensions rose this month after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Arunachal Pradesh on March 9, as he prepares to seek a third term in general elections that begin April 19 and last until early June. Modi inaugurated a $100 million tunnel project that is expected to provide 'all-weather' connectivity to the remote state's strategic Tawang region, helping India strengthen defense along its de facto border with China, along 3,500 kilometers, known as the Line of Actual Control, or LAC.
China, which regularly objects when Indian leaders visit the region, issued a statement "strongly deploring and firmly opposing" Modi's trip. India then rejected Beijing's reaction, underlining that Arunachal Pradesh "was, is and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India".
Days after the initial remarks, Chinese Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, told reporters that “the Zangnan area is an inherent territory of China,” according to official Chinese media. “China never recognizes the so-called 'Arunachal Pradesh' created illegally by India and firmly opposes it.”
Perchino also reacted harshly to Washington's intervention on Arunachal Pradesh: on Thursday a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry intervened sharply:
“The border demarcation between China and India has never been completed,” Lin Jian said during a regular press briefing, responding to a question about ongoing tensions around the undemarcated border.
“ The China-India border issue is a matter between China and India, it has nothing to do with the United States” “Everyone knows that the United States has always used indiscriminate means to provoke and exploit disputes of other countries to serve their own selfish geopolitical interests.”
Earlier this week, India's foreign ministry said the northeastern state that shares a border with China will always be an "integral and inalienable part of India."
How will this dispute end?
The sides have reached a stalemate on the borders of the eastern area of the Indo-Tibetan border. This is not a secondary dispute, but an area of considerable size, which then gives access to the Bengali plains. It is unthinkable for India to think of giving up these areas because they would expose the entire lower Ganges area.
It is not a question of a few snowy peaks to be occupied for flag reasons, but of a region as large as Nepal. At present, all parties continue to say that they do not want to use non-peaceful and diplomatic means, but history shows that China takes these kinds of provocations seriously.
In 1962 the establishment of some outposts in the territories claimed by China was the cause of a rapid but bloody war between China and India which ended in an Indian debacle. However, we are no longer in 1962 and the Indian army is much more prepared for war at altitude. Personally, I don't think it's impossible for the conflict to degenerate, perhaps on a limited scale, but with a high intensity.
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This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/contesa-cina-india-gli-usa-si-schierano-con-nuova-delhi/ on Fri, 22 Mar 2024 15:47:50 +0000.