By Standing Up to China's Bullying, India's Image Has Risen Several Notches—Amb Gautam Bambawale

In an interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire Mr. Gautam Bambawale said it is “significant” that restoring status quo ante to what it was in April “finds no mention in the Joint Statement”. He added this clearly means “the two sides are far apart on this issue”. However, he said the fact that the Joint Statement talks about border areas and not the Line of Actual Control – although all the boundary-related accords and protocols refer to LAC – “is not something I find special or alarming”.

Mr. Gautam Bambawale said there are clearly two implications behind China’s behaviour in Ladakh: tactically, the aim is to move the ground position of the LAC. In other words, China is moving its control of land right up to where China thinks the LAC lies. Strategically, he said, China’s aim is to show India and the world that there is a huge asymmetry between China and India. As he put it, China wants to show “it’s the hegemon and India is much weaker”.