Expanded military postures by both India and China along the disputed border elevate the risk of armed confrontation between the two nuclear powers, a US intelligence report said.
The Annual Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community pointed out that previous standoffs between India and China have shown that persistent low-level friction on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) has the potential to escalate swiftly.
“The expanded military postures by both India and China along the disputed border elevate the risk of armed confrontation between two nuclear powers that might involve direct threats to US persons and interests and calls for US intervention,” the report said.
The report also said that India-China relations will remain strained in the wake of the countries’ lethal Galwan clash in 2020, the most serious in decades, even though both sides are engaged in border talks.
The report comes days after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told his Chinese counterpart that the state of India-China relations is “abnormal”.
Jaishankar’s first in-person meeting with Qin Gang came on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers conclave on March 2, amid the over 34-month-long border row in eastern Ladakh.
India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.
