Standoff in Ladakh: Ananth Krishnan on the China-India border conflict

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Late on the night of June 15, a deadly melee erupted on the banks of the Galwan River, in a disputed region called Ladakh, high in the mountains between China and India. To help guide a discussion on this landmark event in China-India relations, Kaiser welcomes back Ananth Krishnan, a longtime correspondent for The Hindu, who is based in Beijing. Ananth discusses the context of the clash, which pits two massive, nuclear-armed states with increasingly nationalistic populations and growing regional ambitions against each other, and assesses the prospects for a settlement of the long-standing border dispute.

5:56: Context behind the India-China border clash

17:49: Indian sentiments toward China before the Galwan Valley skirmish

33:30: Indiaโ€™s future in the global geopolitical system

43:19: What could be ahead for the India-China relationship

Recommendations:ย 

Ananth: Choices: Inside the Making of Indiaโ€™s Foreign Policy, by Shivshankar Menon, and a docuseries that explores the creation of the hit TV series The Mandalorian, titled Disney Gallery: Star Wars: The Mandalorian.

Kaiser: The Takshashila PLA Insight newsletter, by Suyash Desai, and The Expanse, a sci-fi series available on Amazon Prime Video.

This podcast was edited and produced by Kaiser Kuo and Jason MacRonald.