Shillong, March 9: A United States intelligence report has pointed out that aggressive postures of India and China – both nuclear nations – risks an armed confrontation along disputed border areas.
The report also cites the example of a clash in Galwan in 2020 in which 20 Indian and many Chinese soldiers were killed. The report stated that the clash was one of the most serious in decades.
Indian and Chinese armies have been eyeball to eyeball at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh since the Galwan incident. While there have been reports of transgression by the Chinese army into the Indian side, no serious incident was reported after 2020.
The US Director of National Intelligence in its Annual Threat Assessment report also highlighted that the earlier confrontation between the Indian and Chinese armies were “low-level” frictions.
The report further stated that a confrontation between the two countries may also require the attention of the US. The report suggested that the relations between India and China will remain strained.
Commenting on Pakistan, the intelligence report noted that India and Pakistan strained relations is also a cause of concern because of an “escalatory cycle between two nuclear-armed states.”