US-China balloon war points to troubling polarisation trend. But India can help ease tension

On 1 February, a high-altitude balloon of Chinese origin was spotted over the US state of Montana, which also houses one of the country’s three active nuclear missile silos. The US government officially described it as a surveillance balloon with no immediate military or physical threat but was quick to go back on its initial assessment. Despite Chinese claims that the balloon was a harmless “civilian airship” that had unintentionally flown into US airspace, on 3 February, Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelled his much-anticipated diplomatic visit to Beijing. Subsequently, on 4 February, US forces shot down the balloon over the country’s South Carolina coast and are now proceeding to collect some of the debris.