Link to article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/3/india-china-himalayan-border-security-deadly-clashes
India is currently increasing security along the border at the Himalayan Mountains after a deadly-clash with Chinese soldiers last year over the control of Arunachal Pradesh. Both sides send troops out to check the border on a routine basis, this has led to India accusing China of setting up permanent settlements near the border. This led to India increasing the amount of troops sent to that section of the border. This caused New Delhi to deploy missiles, howitzers, transport choppers (made in the US), and drones (made in Israel). The deadly encounter a year ago between the two countries helped show that there was a need to increase the military presence on both sides of the border. This can be hard due to the fact that the geography of the mountains is not very human friendly, with lack of oxygen, freezing temperatures, and isolation from the outside world. Most of the settlers in the region are Budhist and favor the activities of the Indian government and fear the attempts by the Chinese to suppress buddhism.
I feel like this situation got way out of hand. I think that there could have been some common ground found that would have saved the 20 Indian Soldiers and 4 Chinese Soldiers lives. I think that neither country has to put more people’s lives at risk by having them stay in an area where they aren’t living in safe conditions. I also feel that China needs to step back a bit and stop trying to take over land that historically does not belong to them.This isn’t the only example of China trying to claim land, they have a history of this with Taiwan and Japan.
This can relate back to class because it talks about two countries arguing about control over Arunachal Pradesh. You can look at the dispute over the land as a collective good problem between the two countries. So with that in mind you can look at the solutions to common good issues that we learned in class you can come up with a couple different ways this dispute could potentially be resolved. Countries could use reciprocity, which is incentivizing countries with rewards when they cooperate and punishments for selfish behavior. Countries could use this to punish China for their selfish behavior to try and stop the selfish behavior China is showing. They could look more for their identity, caring more about the welfare and interest of their people rather than their own interest in the land.