Manoj Kewalramani quoted in Vice on India-China border clashes

Manoj Kewalramani, chair of Indo-Pacific Studies and a fellow at Takshashila Institution, was quoted in Vice on the India-China border face-off. He was quoted as saying,

“The Indian response is fundamentally defensive,” Manoj Kewalramani, chairperson of the Indo-Pacific Research Program at the Bangalore-based think tank Takshashila Institution, told VICE World News. 

Kewalramani said China has been seeking to change the status quo and pressing its claims deeper into Indian territory, including building Chinese settlements and military infrastructure along the border. “What the Indians did was a mirror deployment,” he said.

“At the end of the day, this is simply about political will from China,” Kewalramani said, noting that previous protocols have allowed the border to remain largely peaceful for 45 years before China began stepping up incursions and the bloody conflict in 2020 plunged bilateral ties into a historic low.

Both countries have agreed not to use firearms near the frontiers, but as more troops are deployed with a greater degree of weaponization, Kewalramani fears that there would only be more sources of friction in the future, which could potentially get out of hand. Over the years, the conflict has escalated from stone-throwing to firing warning shots in 2020. In the latest clash, Chinese soldiers reportedly carried stun guns and spiked clubs.

“The more you see such instances where there is violence, serious injuries or, potentially, loss of lives, the more difficult it will be to return to that degree of trust,” he added. “The worst case scenario is that both sides end up sleepwalking into a war.”

Read the full report here.