June’s Border Clash Marked a New and Tense Phase in China-India Relations

June’s Border Clash Marked a New and Tense Phase in China-India Relations
Protesters hold banners with the face of Chinese leader Xi Jinping during a demonstration against China in Ahmedabad, India, June 24, 2020 (AP photo by Ajit Solanki).

India and China’s ties took a dangerous turn with the fatal clash last month at their disputed border in the Himalayas. Despite being the first time in 45 years that blood was spilled between the two rivals, the incident, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed alongside an undisclosed number of Chinese casualties, is unlikely to go down as an aberration. It should be seen instead as a critical inflection point between Asia’s two premier powers. The path ahead in their relationship will be as rocky and treacherous as the site of last month’s confrontation: a sheer cliff at an altitude of over 14,000 feet.

Tensions had been particularly high since early May, when Chinese troops reportedly crossed the de facto border, known as the Line of Actual Control, in three different places and set up camps several kilometers into territory China had not previously occupied. A series of high-level diplomatic and military talks earlier in June had led to a brief pullback, but that did not stop the skirmish from breaking out on June 15 in Galwan Valley in Ladakh, near the Line of Actual Control.

India and China signed key agreements in 1993, 1996 and 2013 to manage peace and security along the disputed border. Those agreements went out the door last month, marking the beginning of a new era of tensions under China’s leader, Xi Jinping, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of tens of thousands of articles.
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday.
  • Regular in-depth articles with deep dives into important issues and countries.
  • The Daily Review email, with our take on the day’s most important news, the latest WPR analysis, what’s on our radar, and more.
  • The Weekly Review email, with quick summaries of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review