It is becoming increasingly evident that China is not interested in a fair, forward-looking, negotiated settlement to the decades-old border dispute with India. Instead of working to de-escalate the ongoing border stand-off, China has now reiterated territorial claims that it had first put forward in 1959 in a letter that Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai had written to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru rejected the Chinese claim back then, a position that India continues to hold to date. Reiterating an old, unworkable claim at a time when the two militaries seem to be on the brink of war in the Himalayan heights is irresponsible on the part of China, an aspiring superpower. Much water has flowed under the bridge in the 61 years since Beijing put forward the 1959 LAC claim line. The two countries fought a war in 1962, their armies have violently clashed thereafter in 1967, 1986 and more recently in June. Dozens of rounds of talks at various levels have taken place over the decades and the two sides have even signed landmark agreements. By singing a tune it sang in 1959, China is rubbishing all the steps forward the two sides have made at the negotiating table over the decades. This is clearly unhelpful. It will confirm apprehensions in India that Beijing is not serious about negotiations and is simply keeping India engaged fruitlessly at the table while it prepares for aggression on the ground.
Over the past six decades, China has always sought to avoid clarifying what its perception of the LAC is. It has repeatedly fudged the issue and kept the Indian side guessing since the 1950s. It has not even come out to say that the LAC means its 1959 claim line. While it has provided a bit more clarity, murkiness persists as even its 1959 LAC claim consisted only of points that could be interpreted in different ways.
It is evident now that since May, the PLA has been aiming to physically secure territory as per China’s 1959 LAC claim and has managed to do so in Galwan, Hot Springs and the north bank of the Pangong Tso. This is its objective in Sub-Sector North, too, where it is already preventing Indian soldiers from patrolling up to the LAC. As in the 1950s and 1960s, it is seeking to ensure that India can pose no threat to its control over Aksai Chin. The PLA is unlikely to budge or pull back from its current position in the coming months. India must dig in its heels, too, both at the negotiating table and on the ground. It must prepare itself for the long haul.