Should India be concerned about China's activities around LAC?

Since the Doklam crisis of 2017, China has more than doubled its total number of air bases, air defence positions, and heliports along the border. China has also inducted a large number of state-of-the-art medium and light tanks along the LAC.

Communist China's Xinjiang military command has recently tested an updated short-range surface-to-air defence missile system in the "Karakoram plateau region" near the India border. Should India be concerned?

Observers say the history of communist China's aggression towards India hardly needs to be emphasized. Currently, Beijing is showing little inclination to restoring the status quo that existed on the India-China border prior to its April 2020 transgressions. Chinese and Indian troops are still engaged in a prolonged stand-off in eastern Ladakh. The two sides have so far held 16 rounds of Corps Commander-level talks to resolve the stand-off. But in vain. They are yet to make any headway in the friction areas in Hot Springs, Demchok and Depsang. Beijing is also backing Islamabad to take on New Delhi on the Kashmir issue.

China's military modernization programme is going fast forward. China's arsenal could grow to 1,000 warheads by 2030 from about 350 now. The People's Liberation Army is determined to improve its infrastructure along the western borders - particularly in forward areas close to China's Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India. Since the Doklam crisis of 2017, China has more than doubled its total number of air bases, air defence positions, and heliports along the border. China has also inducted a large number of state-of-the-art medium and light tanks along the LAC.China's approach towards its borders with India is similar to the one it has had towards its neighbours in the South China Sea. In addition to the development of infrastructure, China has been deploying more air defense systems and fighter aircraft to its existing facilities along the LAC.

India must pay due attention to its own infrastructure development in its border areas with China. New Delhi should continue to upgrade its overall military capabilities, particularly in those fields where it has serious capability gaps vis-a-vis China.

It is assuring to learn that our Army is speeding up the procurement of the indigenous Indian light tank named 'Zorawar', for deployment in our mountains along the LAC. In addition, the Army will be inducting niche technologies such as loitering munitions, anti-drone capabilities and next generation Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities. This would improve our Army's operational capabilities in the region.

Our External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is being very careful about stressing the need for greater cooperation between India and China. Speaking at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand last week, he said, "The Asian century will be difficult if India and China don't come together." At the same time, he admitted that the relationship between New Delhi and Beijing was going through an 'extremely difficult phase'.

(Jagdish N. Singh is a senior journalist based in New Delhi. He is also Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, New York)

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