India has no plans of backing off as the India-China border in Galwan Valley is up for debate for the third time

• The status of Galwan Valley and the shared border between India and China is up for debate for the third time.
• The Indian Army has no plans of receding any territory and is hoping to address the issue through diplomatic means.
• Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping told the People’s Liberation Army to remain battle-ready as global tensions rise during the coronavirus pandemic.

Both India and China are playing ‘who blinks first’ at the Line of Actual Control. Tensions have been escalating at the India-China border last few days with no sign of thaw.

“The two sides are engaged diplomatically both here and in Beijing to address the issue but there won’t be any compromise when it comes to the defence of territory,” sources told TOI.

Meanwhile, defence experts in India suggest that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is well inside the Indian territory.


China’s narrative, on the other hand, is that India has “illegally constructed defence facilities” in the Galwan Valley region by crossing over the Chinese side, according to Long Xingchun, a senior research fellow of Academy of Regional and Global Governance at Beijing Foreign Studies University.

In Beijing, China’s President Xi Jinping told the PLA to “scale up training” and “battle preparedness” during the third session of the 13th National People’s Congress on May 26, reported China’s state-run newspaper Xinhua, at a time when ‘a new cold war’ [hyperlink] is brewing with the US.

Galwan Valley remains the point of inflexion between India and China
The status of the Galwan Valley was similarly challenged in 1956 followed by an official claim by the Chinese government in 1960 — eventually leading the India-China war of 1962, which resulted in massive casualties on both sides.

After the war, China moved in further to lay claim over another 2,000 square kilometres of Ladakh. Come 2020, Ajai Shukla — a retired Colonel of Indian Army — claims that China is attempting to move in even further using three points of entry in order to “divide reaction”.


“Unlike previous standoffs, the latest border friction was not caused by accident, but was a planned move of New Delhi,” said Global Times taking a different perspective on the situation. “India has been clearly and definitely aware that the Galwan Valley region is Chinese territory,” it added.

Shukla claims that on May 5, around 5,000 PLA troops crossed the Valley. Four days later, on May 9, Chinese troops crossed over to Indian territory in northern Sikkim’s Naku La violating the agreed-upon border between Sikkim and Tibet. Since then, they have retreated back to their side but have pitched tents to assert their presence.


The third incursion happened on May 12 when Chinese troops moved in to occupy territory between Finger 8 and Finger 4 on the Pangong Tso Lake. According to Shukla, they had taken over the ‘Finger Heights’ by May 18.

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