Throughout the 2020-2021 standoff in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh, Chinese officials sought to downplay the severity of the crisis, emphasizing Beijing’s intent to preserve border stability and prevent the standoff from harming other areas of its bilateral relationship with India, the report said.
It further said that China seeks to prevent border tensions from causing India to partner more closely with the US.
Throughout 2021, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) sustained the deployment of forces and continued infrastructure build
up along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Negotiation made minimal progress as both sides resist losing perceived advantages on the border.
Beginning in May 2020, China and Indian forces faced off in clashes with rocks, batons, and clubs wrapped in barbed wire at multiple locations along the LAC. The resulting standoff triggered the buildup of forces on both sides of the disputed border, said the Pentagon report.
Each country demanded the withdrawal of the other’s forces and a return to pre-standoff conditions, but neither China nor India agreed on those conditions.
China blamed the standoff on Indian infrastructure construction, which it perceived as encroaching on Chinese territory, while New Delhi accused Beijing of launching aggressive incursions into India’s territory.
The standoff was the deadliest clash between the two nations in the past 46 years.
