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In late July, Indian and Chinese army patrols came face to face at a remote village in Arunachal Pradesh's Upper Subansiri district, located on the Tibetan border. Beijing kept coming back even after the first confrontation was resolved.
According to ThePrint, the incident occurred about 2.5 km within the territory controlled by India. Chinese troops withdrew from the area only to return early in August thereby pushing the temperature higher when both the governments were trying their best to keep calm and highlight the need for stability.
India's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, had some things to say regarding the current border situation during his regular media briefing, which he did not mention by name, but did make some things clear. Jaiswal said, 'in matters relating to border areas between India and China, we have always emphasized in discussions with our Chinese friends that we consider these matters as most serious.' Jaiswal said, 'we have stated that the state of border affairs will reflect on the state of our larger bilateral ties.'
China gave a considered response. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the border situation is 'generally stable.' It said that both sides had agreed during the border affairs consultation panel held in New Delhi last week to 'maintain contacts by diplomatic and military means and jointly preserve peace and tranquility.'
Diplomatically, the timing is a bit tricky. Presumably, Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the BRICS summit in New Delhi on September 12 and 13, which both governments have said will be an opportunity to start to repair the damage caused to relations by the 2020 Galwan Valley border clashes.
China has always laid claim to Arunachal Pradesh, which they refer to as the Zangnan region. India of course does not recognize this, and considers it to be a fully integrated and irreversible part of India.
Competing claims often have led to border patrolling, face offs, and construction of various structures along the Line of Actual Control for many many decades.
India's recent upgrades to border roads and military forward deployments mean India is now in the position to engage in a new phase of border stand-offs and disputes with China. In turn, China has begun to build permanent settlements and military infrastructure on its side of the LAC. The border stand-offs between India and China seem to have the potential to last a long time.
The Taksing incident is one example of how border stand-offs could take a new shape. Whether the situation at Taksing will remain a border stand-off or will begin to escalate will depend on the meeting of Xi and Modi at the BRICS summit. If the two can agree to reset the tone and work towards a resolution, there is a chance that the September summit can become a setting for the pursuit of true resolution.
