Cannot go back to business as usual with China
The agreement reached between India and China to disengage from all “friction areas” after marathon talks between senior Army commanders of both the sides needs to be welcomed. Although details of the disengagement are yet to be revealed, prima facie it can be interpreted as only a broad agreement for withdrawal from all the areas such as the Galwan Valley, Fingers 4 to 8 in the Pangong Tso area and Hot Springs. The finer modalities of the disengagement, it has been unofficially told to the media, will be worked out after commanders sit down again for a sector-wise discussion.
It has been India’s position that China transgressed into its territories in these areas. Whether the agreement also means restoring the status quo ante, in other words, the Chinese returning to positions where they came from before May 2020, is not yet known. But nonetheless, the agreement is something both sides can hope to build upon.
The Corps Commander-level talks this time were different from the previous one on June 6. Unlike the last time when both sides were silent on the outcome, on this occasion at least the Indian Army has issued a statement to reveal the agreement. The June 6 meeting yielded only some protocols, and this too was revealed after the bloody clash on June 15 as both sides accused each other of breaching the protocol, leading to the fight that left many dead.
While the immediate need following the June 22 agreement is to ensure that the disengagement takes place on the ground, India needs to do some hard and realistic thinking about its relationship with its northern neighbour. As former Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Rao told this newspaper, and as did many other experts, India’s relationship with China needs to be redefined as it cannot be business as usual. Much of India’s security and foreign policy is defined by our relationship with Pakistan, with whom India has had four wars. China has been no less belligerent towards India and there have been at least two major military confrontations and several localised conflicts. It’s time India looks at China through a new prism.