In a speech before the Indian parliament on Tuesday, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh asserted that the border dispute with China remains “unresolved” for now, and blamed China for “violating” the border agreement with India.
Chinese experts warned on Tuesday that such a hard-line attitude may see border tensions extend into winter.
Chinese analysts noted that Singh is trying to ensure domestic support and defense budgets from parliament, especially amid the unprecedented economic recession, so he won’t admit that it was India which took the initiative to violate the agreement and unilaterally change the status quo.
But the Indian defense minister on Tuesday also said India is committed to a peaceful resolution of the current border stand-off with China in Ladakh, according to the Times of India.
Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Institute of International Relations of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday that “the Indian army is facing great pressure as winter approaches, with the logistical costs potentially being huge, and due to a horrible economic recession, Indian leaders understand that they are unable to launch a war against China.”❐
