A New Equilibrium

Context: China’s refusal to change its views vis-a-vis the Ladakh confrontation has irreversibly altered the India-China relationship.

Chinese Belligerence (aggressive or warlike behaviour) in Ladakh Standoff

• No positive outcomes of the efforts: like Diplomatic overtures, military interactions and apex-level marathon discussions.
• Instead of withdrawal, there is a massive build-up of Chinese forces in the areas of intrusion.

Measures for Countering Chinese Belligerence 

• Ensure operational logistics:
• Tackle the administrative challenge of maintaining troop accretions at high altitude. 
• High state of “operational readiness” (in terms of logistics) must be ensured by the armed forces.

• Limiting the conflict: 
• Political-diplomatic initiative to ensure that the current standoff is resolved without conflict. 

• But in case of conflict, it must be localised to the Ladakh region and must not be translated into “two-front conflict”.

• Limited conventional conflict must be preferred over hype of “new-age warfare” & “maritime power”.
• Ensure clarity of expenses incurred for sharpening the arsenal of the armed forces.
• There must be time-bound provisioning of essential war-waging wherewithal.
• Developing partnerships against China:
• Ensure continued political and diplomatic engagement with the US for increasing international pressure at China’s other pain points — SCS, Taiwan, Hong Kong. 

• Continue to isolate China on its insidious (deceitful) role in starting the corona pandemic. 

• Strengthen the multilateral, regional groupings of like-minded countries like Quad

•  Create a US-led international consensus that deters Pakistan from any aggressive plans.

• Enhance deterrence: by spelling out clear red lines, especially when it comes to territorial intrusions. 
• Reworking of current bilateral agreements with an unequivocal “no war pact” with China and a categorical, time-bound resolution of all border issues.
• India must be poised for gaining upper hand in case of extreme eventuality of armed confrontation.
  
  

Conclusion: India has realised that it needs to create a new equilibrium in its future relations with its neighbours, including China.