Special Seminar | Interpreting China’s Strategy on the Northern Borders | 14th September @ 3 PM IST

The talk will attempt to prove the hypothesis that China’s aggressive action on the Northern Borders is connected to its global confrontation with the US and its allies. The methodology adopted would be based on interrogation of China’s use of the military instrument in the Northern Borders with a view to establish a connection with its political objectives. Identifying the politico-strategic context within a regional and global framework, is expected to facilitate the identification of vectors that could indicate the contours of its political objectives. It is therefore being argued that China is using the Northern Border to create ‘pinch points’ that can exert pressure on India’s military capabilities so as to draw India’s military and political energy, keep India confined to the Sub-continent and slow down its growth as a maritime power. This becomes clear in the context of China’s vulnerabilities, the criticality of securing of its trade routes in the Indo-Pacific and especially in the Indian Ocean, that is a strategic concern in the context of a growing confrontation with the US and its Allies. Keeping India from shifting its strategic weight towards the US in the larger global geopolitical confrontation could be the prime objective. China therefore would have no intention to either restore the status quo on the Northern Border nor respect the earlier agreements. It would continue to negotiate sporadically and could intermittently activate ‘pinch points’ at any place along the Northern Border as a provocative response to what it sees as the growing proximity between India, the US and its allies.