It is striking how Indian media outlets unwittingly help China obscure its furtive incursions into key Indian borderlands by portraying the subsequent Galwan Valley clashes as the starting point of the downturn in bilateral relations.
In truth, the June 2020 Galwan clashes were a consequence of China's stealth encroachments beginning in April 2020, which triggered protracted military standoffs and a series of confrontations starting May 1, 2020.
Depicting the Galwan clashes as the watershed moment not only distorts the chronology and nature of events, but also plays directly into Beijing's narrative.
Today, with de-escalation still elusive, between 110,000 and 120,000 combat-ready Chinese troops, backed by heavy weaponry, remain deployed along the Indian frontier — from Ladakh to Arunachal — in breach of bilateral border agreements.
Brahma Chellaney