The June 15 clash at Galwan Valley, which declared 20 Indian soldiers in the worst violence since 1967, has left the entire border architecture, carefully built by India and China to keep peace, in the heap of history, states Gautam Bambawale, former Indian Ambassador to China and Pakistan. India’s relations with China have reached a inflection point that will require a fundamental reassessment of its China policy. Edited excerpts:
Having dealt with the relationship over so many years, did you ever anticipate what happened on June 15?
I never anticipated such a thing to happen. And the reason that I didn’t expect such a thing to occur is due to the fact that since 1993, when India and China signed the Border Peace and Serenity Contract (BPTA), and there have been numerous arrangements following that, we have actually put in location certain tenets, specific operating treatments, which were focused on preserving peace and serenity on the border. That entire architecture has collapsed, and is now in the heap of history.
If all these arrangements that have assisted keep the peace have collapsed, where does that leave us going forward?
Both countries have agreed that there are differences in our viewpoint of where the line of actual control (LAC) lies. It was essential to ensure that peace and tranquillity is kept. Now, this time, what the Chinese People’s Freedom Army (PLA) has actually done is that they have moved their ground positions towards what they think is their LAC. And by doing so, they have tried to unilaterally define the LAC. Now, the motion of troops, to move your ground positions towards what is your conception of the LAC, in my viewpoint is a significant change in the status quo, where the Chinese have co