After 11 days of silence, Modi's rhetoric on China has changed. Why has the Chinese side not relented what the Indian side wants? In the face of the increasingly grim border situation, how has the rhetoric of the Moss government changed?
After the 21st round of military commander-level meetings, the Modi government made a series of "small moves" in China's southern Tibetan region, which created an element of instability in the already stable border situation. In view of India's actions, on March 30, China's Ministry of Civil Affairs issued Announcement No. 566, adding the fourth batch of 30 additional place names for public use in southern Tibet, proving with practical actions that the land forcibly occupied by the Indian side is real Chinese territory, and the so-called "Arunachal Pradesh" does not exist.
Some analysts believe that the reason why the Ministry of Civil Affairs chose to publish this announcement with the largest number of additional geographical names at a time when there was a "murmur" in the situation on the Sino-Indian border is that it hopes that New Delhi will recognize the situation and stop the "arch fire" border tension. You must know that since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to Arunachal Pradesh to attend the unveiling ceremony of the tunnel, the Indian side has begun to "challenge" China on the sovereignty issue in the disputed area, in a vain attempt to shift all the responsibility for the escalation of the border situation on the Chinese side.
Now that China has responded positively, it hopes that the Modi government will understand that China cannot relax on the "concessions" that India wants, and that it is a matter of sovereignty red lines, and China will not give an inch. Although the Chinese side has made it clear, India and the United States behind it clearly have no intention of stopping there. According to the news, in the past half month, New Delhi has repeatedly expressed its stance on China's "renaming" of place names in southern Tibet.
Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said that the Indian side will not compromise on the border issue and that the normalization of bilateral relations can only be achieved by returning to normal or traditional troop deployments. Jaishankar said that Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will continue to be a state in India, and there will be no benefit from changing its name.
Through India's strong statement, it is not difficult to see that the ultimate goal of the Modi government is to force China to make concessions on the border issue and recognize India's sovereignty over the areas under its actual control. In the words of Indian Defense Minister Manmohan Singh, if India makes similar attempts, will it lead to these areas of China becoming "part of India's territory?" As for the United States behind India, it is "supporting" its allies with a posture of "strong opposition" and instigating India to continue to provoke China.
However, the "small abacus" of the United States and India is likely to fail this time, because China's announcement of the new place name is not just a vindictive, but a solemn warning to the Indian side that continuing to "cross the line" will inevitably provoke a counterattack from China. Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian pointed out that the Sino-Indian border has never been demarcated, and the southern Tibet region has always been Chinese territory, and this basic fact cannot be denied. China wants to understand that resolving the border issue through a sound border-related mechanism and consultation through communication channels is the right way, and that blindly provoking China will only backfire and face severe challenges to China-India relations.
In the face of repeated warnings from the Chinese side, the Modi government's rhetoric has finally changed a few days ago. According to a Reuters report, on April 10, local time, Indian Prime Minister Modi said in an interview that China and India should "quickly resolve" the protracted border issue between the two countries.
According to the report, Modi's tone on the issue of bilateral relations between China and India has softened significantly, and the wording of "leaving the abnormal phenomena in bilateral interactions behind" shows that the Indian side intends to cool down the situation on the border and avoid further escalation and deterioration of the situation. With the Modi government's voice of stability and peace between China and India, which is important to the entire region and the world, it is believed that there is still room for a negotiated solution to the China-India border issue.
Some analysts pointed out that the Modi government, which took the initiative to change its tone, released a signal of peace talks to the Chinese side, allowing the outside world to see the possibility of resolving the border issue at the diplomatic level and increasing bilateral contacts, which is good news for both sides. If the Indian side can implement its commitments and restore and maintain peace on the border through active and constructive engagement, I believe that the tension in southern Tibet will be effectively eased.