The Border Dispute That’s Bedeviling China-India Ties
Border Security Force soldiers guard a highway leading towards the border with China, in Gagangir, India.
Photographer: Tauseef Mustafa/AFP/Getty Images
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China and India, nuclear-armed neighbors, have had thousands of troops facing off in a disputed region of the Himalayas since 2020, when skirmishes led to the first deadly clashes in four decades. India has hit back economically as well by blocking investment and curtailing access to its vast market for Chinese tech firms especially. Talks to resolve the dispute have made only incremental progress but the tone has softened this year — signaling perhaps more openness to negotiate. Any resolution likely will do little to affect broader geopolitical currents, however, where the US and its allies have been seeking to draw New Delhi closer into a democratic coalition as a bulwark against China’s growing clout, while Beijing is seeking allies for its efforts to counter what it sees as Western hegemony.