Chinese experts warn India against creating a 'two-front conflict'

Say current tensions make India an unsuitable destination for Chinese to travel or do business in

Chinese experts have warned India against partaking in a “two-front conflict” with China and Pakistan, as the latest in a series of statements that have appeared in the media on the month-long border standoff between the two countries.

Recently, the Chinese State media has taken up the border impasse, which has led to an increase in conversation and attention to the Kashmir issue to send a clear message to India. Apart from the border conflict with China, India has also engaged in exchange of fire along the Kashmir border.



Global Times has reported the issue and confirmed the conflict on the Kashmir border. “Both India and Pakistan accused each other of initiating the incident on Saturday that caused civilian deaths on both sides of their controlled border,” the newspaper said, quoting reports from India.

It would not be a good idea for India to open two fronts, it said, adding Indian troops that “entered Chinese territory” were yet to retreat to their side. “China has nothing to do with the situation in Kashmir, but it would be unwise for India to engage in two conflicts at the same time,” Lin Mingwang from the Institute of International Studies at Shanghai’s Fudan University told The Global Times.

This is the second time that the Chinese media tried to draw attention to the Kashmir dimension to the impasse in Doklam, a region located at the narrow yet important tri-junction of India, China and Bhutan. China accuses India of trespass and preventing its soldiers from building a road in Doklam, or Donglang as the Chinese call it.

On Sunday, a scholar wrote in the English-language newspaper that if Pakistan were to request, “a third country” could dispatch soldiers to the Kashmir Valley the same way India had intervened on behalf of Bhutan.

Talking to the State media and citing safety advisory issued by the Chinese embassy over the weekend, experts also said that the current tensions made India an “unsuitable destination for Chinese to travel or do business in”.



China is India’s biggest trading partners outside the EU, with the balance heavily tilted in favour of Beijing. The bilateral trade has grown 10 folds over the last decade to $71 billion. “The current tension makes India an unsuitable destination for Chinese to travel or do business in, which is why the Chinese embassy in India warns that the situation has already had an impact on normal exchanges between the two countries,” Hu Zhiyong from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences said.

 

This article originally appeared on Hindustan Times.