India's Relations with China after Galwan

Abstract

The border incident that took place in the Galwan Valley on June 15th and resulted in casualties - the first in over forty-five years - has severely deteriorated relations between India and China and caught analysts and policymakers off guard. The incident marks the end of the diplomatic phase commonly referred to as "the Wuhan spirit" or "the Wuhan consensus." Initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2017 and consisting of a series of summits with the Chinese President Xi Jinping, the purpose of “the Wuhan spirit” was to reset relations between the two countries, stabilize the border areas, and focus on issues of common interest. It is unclear what China was attempting to achieve by unnecessarily antagonizing a neighbor large enough to balance against its rise, but that was also willing to build a stable and pragmatic relationship at a time when Beijing is facing an increasingly challenging international environment. Going forward, India will most likely continue to invest in issue based coalitions by strengthening security and defense cooperation with a number of like-minded middle powers.