Pentagon concerned over Chinese military-buildup near border with India
Dec 16, 2021
Washington [US] December 16 : China's military buildup near the demarcation line across its Himalayan border with India has compelled Pentagon to worry but there is optimism among experts and officials that India will be able to stand its ground against the People's Liberation Army, reported Foreign Policy.
The buildup fits the pattern of Chinese regional aggression seen elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific region, such as in the Philippines, where Beijing's coast guard vessels moved to block Manila's supply boats in November, Foreign Policy quoted a senior Pentagon official as saying. The official discussed the sensitive policy deliberations with the publication on the condition of anonymity.
Beijing last month deployed long-range strategic bombers to the area. However, experts and officials believe that India will be able to stand its ground against the Chinese Army.
New Delhi has put up more diplomatic and military resistance than China's antagonists in other territorial incursions, such as in the South China Sea, Foreign Policy quoted experts as saying.
Jeff Smith, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Centre, said that it is just clear that [China has] become more assertive all across their territorial fault lines.
Smith also said that arguably India is the one where they (Chinese) have met the most resistance stressing that Indians will not be cowed, coerced, or intimidated.
