India and China flags. (Photo | PTI)
India and China flags. (Photo | PTI)

Despite U.S. naysaying, no alternative to talks with China

But the remarks ought to be seen from the prism of the November 3 US presidential election where Donald Trump is trailing by a wide margin.

American National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien’s headline-grabbing statement that the time has come to realise that dialogues and agreements will not change China’s aggression may have resonated with a section of the Indian polity. But the remarks ought to be seen from the prism of the November 3 US presidential election where Donald Trump is trailing by a wide margin.

O’Brien criticised the territorial aggression by China along the LAC in Ladakh and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo berated Beijing for amassing 60,000 troops on India’s northern border. Both statements were meant to bolster Trump’s macho image for a second shot at office.

The US commerce department’s recent hike in levies on dumping of aluminium sheets from 18 countries, including India, too, falls in the poll posturing category. Add to that Trump’s personal physician certifying that the president can resume normal work barely 10 days after contracting the coronavirus, which militates against globally accepted treatment and quarantine protocols, and the pre-poll circus is as clear as daylight.

India is justifiably angry over China’s land grab in Ladakh, but bilateral talks at the military and diplomatic levels demanding restoration of status quo ante have continued parallelly. In the last Corps Commander-level talks, both sides could not even agree on the agenda. While India wanted all incursions on the talks table, China only wanted to discuss the situation on the south bank of the Pangong lake, where India has a commanding presence in the heights.

India, however, coaxed China into agreeing to a joint statement, which committed both sides to freeze army and armaments build-up along the border. While O’Brien’s observation on China’s scant respect for agreements is indisputable, as it failed to honour commitments on the LAC de-escalation in the past, surely there can be no alternative to dialogue.

For, the Ladakh incursions cannot be resolved by force and the dragon rarely yields. Indian troops have shown great tact and tenacity along the LAC by pushing China to the back foot after the bloody Galwan fight. Bad Himalayan weather in a few weeks is going to test both sides further. As another round of military-level talks open today, pragmatism will continue to be the watchword.

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The New Indian Express
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