Description
In June, 2020, in the deadliest skirmish between Indian and Chinese armed forces in the Galwan valley of the Ladakh region, first in 45 years of history of border conflicts in the nuclear armed neighbours. This new form of crisis and conflicts between India and China has potential to destablise the South Asian region and increase the nuclear threats in the most nuclearised region of the world. The crisis of Galwan valley led to the heightened state of tensions and potential outbreak of war between two countries in the midst of raging Covid-19 pandemic. India’s covert nuclearisation in 1970s and overt nuclearisation in 1990s was primarily aimed to bigger threats of Chinese nuclear proliferation and historical memory of setback in 1962 war. India had successfully handled Pakistani threats in conventional conflicts in the last three and half war. India’s nuclear weapons are for the purpose of deterrence against greater Chinese threats in conventional as well as nuclear conflicts. If the crisis escalates between two nuclear armed neighbours, there is a possibility of nuclear escalation given the circumstances of emerging geopolitics of South Asia and India-Pacific in context of India’s growing alignment with the United States. Pakistan and China alliance and India-USA closer ties are also the factors in growing distrust between Sino-Indian relationships. This paper will try to analyses Sino-Indian conflicts in Galwan valley and aftermath effects on the security environment in South Asian region, which had seen instability for several decades during Indo-Pak conflicts and 1962 Sino-Indian war. The paper will also explore the renewed strategic competition between India-China in contexts of the Quad formation in Indo-Pacific and the BRI projects in South Asian region, precursor for Galwan valley crisis.
Key Words: Sino-Indian Conflicts, Galwan Crisis, Nuclear Deterrence, South Asia
