Cold War Fears May be Driving China's Belligerence on Kashmir

Cold War Fears May be Driving China’s Belligerence on Kashmir

Posted: June 17th, 2020

By Tim Willasey-Wilsey

Tim Willasey-Wilsey served for over 27 years in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and is now Visiting Professor of War Studies at King's College, London. His first overseas posting was in Angola during the Cold War followed by Central America during the instability of the late 1980s. He was also involved in the transition to majority rule in South Africa and in the Israel/Palestine issue. His late career was spent in Asia including a posting to Pakistan in the mid 1990s.

India says 20 of its soldiers were killed in a clash with Chinese troops along a disputed border in the Himalayas. Tensions have been escalating over the past several weeks as both sides sent additional troops to the region, though senior military leaders had begun talks to deescalate the situation before Monday’s clashes, which produced the first military casualties in the region in more than four decades.

Cipher Brief expert Tim Willasey-Wilsey says China’s hostile approach to India in the Himalayas has a lot to do with the revocation of Article 370. But there are indications that China is also making preparations in case of a future Cold War. The events have exposed China’s sensitivities about the desolate, high- altitude region of the Aksai Chin.

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