Vantage | What US assessment of China’s tactics on India border means

China’s latest border standoff with India has been on for three years and it won’t be resolved anytime soon. That’s the assessment from the US. They’ve released a full report on China’s border coercion.

So, how does America see China’s tactics on the border with India? The US says the threat from China is here to stay. That’s the headline. The PLA hasn’t changed its posture, and its deployments are unlikely to reduce soon. The US believes that China will maintain the same troop levels. This is an important, high-level assessment that has been put together by the Pentagon and submitted to the US Congress. It gives insights into China’s growing capabilities and its military activities in the region. This report is more than 200 pages long and covers several flashpoints from Taiwan to the South China Sea and the Pacific. But we’ll focus on the section that talks about the India-China border. The border and standoff The India-China border is 3,000 kms long. It is divided into three sectors - the western sector in Ladakh, the central sector in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh and the eastern sector along Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. The current standoff is in the western sector in Ladakh. Quick background: In 2020, China sent a large number of troops there, they clashed with Indian soldiers, there were causalities on both sides, and since then, China has not pulled back its troops. Now, the US has studied China’s deployments and it gives a breakdown in this Pentagon report. It says China has one border regiment in the western sector, which is supported by two troop divisions sent from Xinjiang and Tibet. The troops Now what are regiments and divisions? They are basically military units. A regiment is a bit like a small team in a sports league. It has soldiers and officers and they usually specialise in one task. They have a few thousand personnel. A division on the other hand is much larger in size, sort of like the entire sports league. It has 10 to 15 thousand personnel plus support staff like medics, engineers and officers handling logistics. So, the US says China has deployed one regiment and two divisions along the western border with India. Apart from these, China maintains a reserve force too. They are called combined arms brigades or C.A.Bs. Basically these are combat teams with members drawn from different areas. They come with different skillsets like the weapons they can operate or the warfare tactics they’ve mastered. The idea is to encourage integrated operations. China keeps four such teams in the reserves and all of these teams are exclusively for the border with India. So how many troops in all? There are conflicting reports but most of them are in the range of 50 to 60 thousand troops. That’s what China maintains at the border. The talks In August, there was talk of de-escalation. That’s when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a rare conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping when they met in Johannesburg where they were to attend the BRICS Summit. Prime Minister Modi and President Xi spoke on the sidelines and there was an agreement. That was two months ago, and what happened after that? Nothing. China is yet to commit to any kind of withdrawal. Earlier this month, there was a meeting - the 20th round of military talks in which military commanders from both sides held talks for two days but there was no breakthrough. What’s ahead? Clearly, China is not serious about de-escalation. Instead, it is boosting military infrastructure. The U.S. assessment says the same thing. It says China has added more facilities in the last year. “These improvements include underground storage facilities near Doklam, new roads in all three sectors of the LAC, new villages in disputed areas in neighbouring Bhutan, a second bridge over Pangong lake, a dual-purpose airport near the Center sector, and multiple helipads,” the report says. Of course, India is aware of this threat. It maintains similar troop levels. Reports say, the Indian Army is now preparing for winter. There will be a re-deployment of troops and heightened surveillance. The understanding is clear - China poses a long-term challenge for India. The Pentagon report only confirms that. The big takeaway is this: the Chinese threat is growing and it’s here to stay. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.