History Of India-China-Pakistan Border Conflict And Geopolitics Of Galwan Valley

The current stands off between India and China in Ladakh is not just a simple attempt of land grabbing by one and the other thwarting that attempt. It has a historical background and a larger geopolitical game for dominance between China and Pakistan on one side and India on the other.

Ladakh-Gilgit-Baltistan-Aksai Chin area has been a battle ground of dominance between India, Pakistan and China since the British left the subcontinent.

India against China and Pakistan

We fought four major wars between China-Pakistan and India for the dominance of this area and skirmishes continue almost on daily basis in different forms for the last seven decades, including religious non state actors fighting with India as proxies for Pakistani army.

In this war China and Pakistan have joined hands for common cause against India for strategic reasons, though, ideologically they are miles apart. Pakistan, apolitically unstable fragile Islamic democracy dominated by their army and China, a strong one-party communist autocratic regime. This difference in political set up between the two provides a perfect stage for politically stable autocratic China to leverage to its advantage, the fragile Pakistani political set as junior partner. India has always been a major threat to this bonhomie between the two and is going to remain a threat till India achieves its objectives.

Importance of Gilgit-Baltistan as part of PoK and Aksai Chin

Gilgit-Baltistan area of Jammu and Kashmir, currently in illegal occupation of Pakistan has a common border with Afghanistan. If India gets back the area of Gilgit-Baltistan it will have direct physical access to Afghanistan and through Afghanistan to central Asia and middle east, helping India to develop closer commercial ties with countries in these regions. India can contribute immensely to Afghanistan’s economic development and help bringing peace in the region.

Pakistan would never like that situation as that will loosen its grip over Afghanistan once US forces are out from this region. Most importantly, it will lose direct connectivity to China and its ambitious economic corridor projects being built in its land by China will become unviable.

China would certainly not like the situation as they will lose connectivity to Pakistan once Gilgit-Baltistan is reclaimed by India. The relevance of China-Pakistan highway is not limited to commercial relationship between China and Pakistan but it has greater significance for Chinese ambition to enhance supply chain links with middle east. This road has strategic importance to china from the perspective of de-risking the south China sea trade route, which currently handles almost 80% of Chinese energy import and about 40% of total Chinese trade.

Let us look at the Map of Jammu and Kashmir which includes Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan as part of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), and Aksai Chin, currently in China’s control.

India’s military base at Daulat Beg Oldi

India has a large Military base including an air strip in Daulat Beg Oldi, just 12 kilometres from the famous Karakoram Pass through which the China-Pakistan highway passes.

Now that India has built a new highway with a few strategic bridges, improving the road connectivity to Daulat Beg Oldi, China Pakistan duo find this military base threatening to their highway at Karakoram Pass. To counter this China wants to get closer to Leh-Daulat Beg Oldi highway of India at a striking distance in a difficult mountain region.

Significance of Galwan valley

Access through Galwan valley is the easiest for China to threaten the Leh-Daulat Beg Oldi highway to cut the supply lines to the Military base at Daulat Beg Oldi.

India, under no circumstances can leave this highway vulnerable. Chinese knew that one day India would build this highway and they have been using all kind of tactics to discourage India to build this highway right since nineteen sixties. The current Chinese incursion in Galwan valley and other areas is a last ditch effort to find a foothold near the Indian highway which is now almost completed.

Final thoughts

In 1948, we did not lose just a part of Jammu and Kashmir territory, but a strategic geographical area disconnecting India from Afghanistan and Central Asia and providing Pakistan connectivity with China. Pakistan at that time could visualise the strategic importance of the area and through hook or crook snatched this strategic track of land from India. China too captured a large track of our land in 1962, where not a grain of grass grew. What our leaders in those days did not visualise was that the land we lost to Pakistan and China had tremendous strategic value. It brought China and Pakistan closer to each other against India, so much so that the land Pakistan was not confident of being able to retain, it strategically gifted to China, putting India in to a strategic disadvantage for generations to come, till India finds a viable way out.