How important is the disputed China-India land?

Although the area is less than 100km²But this place will decide the whole situation if the China-India war breaks out.

In a remote area of ​​the Himalayas, China and India have been at loggerheads for more than a month. Many fear that the two nuclear powers could go to war over a piece of land less than 100 square kilometers wide. This is one of the times when tensions between the two sides have reached their highest level in more than 30 years.

The incident happened a month ago when Bhutan discovered Chinese workers were expanding a road in the mountains. Immediately, India sent troops and weapons to the area to prevent China's actions that were considered "causing regional tension".

Indian construction workers in Bhutan.

Both sides have made their own arguments and even made threats against each other. China has also sent troops to the area and tensions between the two sides are predicted to explode into nuclear war.

Why is a small, remote land in the Himalayas the target of dispute between two world powers?

Geographically, the disputed area lies between China and Bhutan. With an area of ​​84 square kilometers, this place is very important to the Beijing and New Delhi governments in their plans to dominate all of Asia in the future.

The border conflict dates back to 1890, when the Qing Dynasty (China) and the British colonial government signed a border agreement. The agreement did not specify the exact location of the border, leading both countries to believe that their claims were legitimate, according to Ankit Panda, senior editor of the Diplomat magazine.

Chinese and Indian soldiers at the shared border in 2008.

Bhutan and India say China is seeking to expand its reach on the disputed Doklam plateau. The southern edge of the plateau leads to a valley known to geologists as the “Siliguri Corridor.” Indian strategists call it the “Chicken’s Neck.”

This narrow strip of Indian territory is less than 40km wide but connects the vast central region with the far northeastern states. India fears that if war breaks out, China will cut off this corridor, leaving 45 million Indians separated. The area “cut up” is equivalent to the size of Britain today, at more than 240,000km2.

The Siliguri Corridor is only 27km at its narrowest, putting India completely within range of Chinese heavy artillery. In addition, once China completes the construction of the road in this corridor, Beijing can massively send heavy tanks to bombard it.

For this reason and because of rising nationalism, both China and India are not giving any ground in the border conflict. Both sides want to have a big political position in the international arena and concessions can lead to disaster in the event of war.

India-China are two military powers in the world.

Jeff Smith, a scholar at the American Foreign Policy Council who studies China-India relations, said the current tensions were similar to the 1962 border conflict. “The message is exactly the same as it was more than 50 years ago,” he said.

According to VNN