As China Intrudes into India, Army Chief Lands in Ladakh
Xi Jinping has had a difficult 6 years in Power
China’s economy was down 6.8% in the first quarter this year. Its trade may have fallen 10-15% every month between January to March. Alibaba which was growing at 40% for whole of last year, grew at half the pace in the last quarter. Taking these into account, the real drop in the economy may be even higher. Between 2012 to 2018, China’s Per Capita GDP increased 7.5% per annum on an average. Between 2006 and 2012, it grew at about 12% per annum, therefore a rapid deceleration under Xi. China’s problems have started to worsen after President Trump started targeting China’s massive Trade Surplus
On top of all this is the COVID crisis which is being blamed on China. All in all, Xi Jinping seems to be in a difficult position at the moment.
India China Border is heating up
Since the onset of the Indian Summer, the border between India and China has been gradually heating up
- PLA first attempted to reduce patrolling by Indian Troops
- Scuffles broke out in Naku La and Pangong Tso
- In Pangong Tso lake, the PLA has deployed more boats with more aggressive patrolling
- The Chinese have been forcefully insisting that India should stop patrolling some parts of the LAC in Eastern Ladakh
The main dispute has been in the Galwan valley where the Chinese have been challenging the Indian Army on construction done on the Indian side of the border. This includes both troops and equipment presence in Indian Territory. This part of the LAC has been agreed for years now.
In the meanwhile, Army chief General M M Naravane on Friday arrived at the headquarters of the 14 Corps in Ladakh to take stock of the operational situation along the Line of Actual Control. He was accompanied by Northern Command chief Lt General YK Joshi, Leh-based 14 Corps commander Lt General Harinder Singh.
In Sum, It is difficult to predict how China will behave but any conflict against India will hurt both countries and in particular China which is in the dog house as far as rest of the world is concerned