But India did back down, or so say the Chinese, after India withdrew its troops from the isolated area described below. The plain and simple of it might be that both are about to start bilateral discussions and India does not want this to be part of them. Considering the remoteness of the area, it is unlikely to cause much trouble for either of them, or for Bhutan for that matter. With very little but principle to fight for, India thought better of it. It can wait.
I did a little research this morning to find out about the size of the Armies and populations of both countries and they are remarkably close, though China's military is about twice as big. India's population may actually overtake that of China in 2024. These are two very big countries with nothing to gain by having a fight so close to their borders. They might remember that with China in an expanionist mood, the drawing of lines should happen sooner than later. They are not going to stop until somebody puts an obstacle in the way, and they will be looking for ways around it shortly thereafter.
We have seen several times lately that China ignores the rest of the world and does what it wants. Usually, the US has a reason to push back, but it doesn't always involve the US. In the Wall Street Journal is a story that sounds like it should be set somewhere in the South China Sea, but instead is in a rather inhospitable place in the middle of nowhere. China and India are laying indirect claims to the same territory, and neither one is going to back down. What makes it so interesting is that neither one has much to gain from this kind of fight.
Go straight North off the western border of Bangladesh and you come to a point where China, India and Bhutan come together. That small strip of land is claimed by China and Bhutan, India and Bhutan are BFFs and have a bilateral trade agreement that is pretty good for Bhutan. Bhutan's largest export is something called Ferroalloys ( iron, steel, and mixtures of iron and other metals). The biggest importer of ferroalloys is China. So, it'd could just be a simple case of China claiming the territory for what it has, and not for where it is. India does not claim the territory, which it thinks belongs to Bhutan. India and Bhutan are good friends.
Little skirmishes have been happening all over that area for many years, but in 1987 there was a little saber rattling by both sides when the respective armies decided to dig in to territories on a the Line of Control between India and China, without really fighting. That is kind of what we have today too. Neither one is backing down, but this is a different regime than either country had in those days, and there might be better reason to see clashes now than then. Both are at a terrain disadvantage, but India has good reason to continue to press. They do not agree with the One Belt One Road initiative, and have their own trade routes in that area that they don't want interference in maintaining. Politically, China has stuck it's finger in the eye of India on a couple of issues lately and India did not like it very much. It sounds like India is less likely to let bygones be bygones and gloss over China's intrusions into its neighbor's territory. In a way, it is a little like the US and China in the South China Sea. Neither one of them wants a shooting war, but neither one is going to change their position. China has run into more of that since it started to become expansionist. More countries see it for what it is - and say "no further".
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