India Ready for 'Any Contingency' Against China, Says Head of Army

Indian troops are prepared for "any contingency" on the country's long, disputed border with China, a senior military official said Monday as he outlined the steady buildup of Chinese forces on the other side.

Beijing had "accrued significant capacities for force mobilization" over the years and continued to operate infrastructure including airfields and barracks along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), said Manoj Pande, India's army chief, who described China as a "totalitarian state" with a multi-pronged strategy to displace the United States as the world's leading superpower.

Beijing is likely to bristle at Pande's remarks, which were some of the most forthright to date by a senior Indian official. He highlighted the centrality of the decades-long boundary disagreement, which has seen New Delhi find common ground with other capitals in the region.

India has re-balanced its forces along its northern borders, he said.

"Our preparedness remains of a higher order, and troops continue to deal with the PLA in a firm, resolute and measured manner while ensuring the sanctity of our claims," he said, referring to China's People's Liberation Army.

Pande was delivering the keynote address for a two-day conference on the implications of China's rise, jointly hosted by the Centre for China Analysis and Strategy, a New Delhi think tank, and the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies at Savitribai Phule Pune University in western India.

"I think the most important aspect of our operational environment remains our legacy challenges of unsettled and disputed borders," said Pande, who added that existing border management protocols were being violated by Chinese "transgressions across the LAC."

India and China fought a war over parts of the 2,100-mile border in 1962. A June 2020 skirmish in a Himalayan ravine in the east was the first deadly clash in nearly half a century. Some 20 Indian troops and at least four Chinese soldiers died in the violence involving fists, clubs and stones, but not guns, according to the agreements of their governments.

The latest publicly acknowledged coming together happened in December, when Indian border guards—reportedly with U.S. intelligence support—repelled a Chinese incursion at the western end of the LAC.

"The boundary issue cannot be divorced from bilateral relations," Pande said of Beijing's desire to set aside the disagreement in pursuit of economic ties.

Earlier in his speech, he argued similar attempts to undermine long-standing status quos were playing out elsewhere across the Indo-Pacific.

"Its forays in the South China Sea, rejection of international tribunal awards on maritime claims, activities in the Taiwan Strait, and actions along the LAC bordering on bellicosity make it increasingly apparent that China's interpretation of an international rules-based order rests on 'might is right,'" he said.

China's "Sino-centrist worldview" means its leaders believe it "rightly deserves to be seen as the cultural, political and economic center of the world," said Pande, who also used unusually blunt language to describe "predatory economics" including the "weaponization of resource supply chains" and history of intellectual property theft.

"India has today emerged as a significant player in the global stage. Today we are the voice of the global south, with our growing economy, technological advancements, and strategic partnerships with other nations," the army official said.

India holds the presidency of the Group of 20 this year. Pande said 2023 would be "a watershed year for India in global policy making."

The Chinese defense ministry did not respond to an email seeking comment.

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