It’s never the big things to watch out for. It is always the little things that cause the most damage. Be it a tiny rock in the ocean whose ownership is disputed over, a little parasite in a pond, or a little cut, they not always are, but too often are the cause of bad thing much more so than bigger things.
There are many examples of this happening in the world today, and many events to keep track of. However, one of the more interesting points to watch is the border class in the Himalayas between China and India. Interestingly, India just detained a Chinese soldier, as France 24 reports.
Indian forces have detained a Chinese soldier on the disputed Himalayan frontier where the world’s two most populous countries fought a deadly battle last year, the military said Saturday.
It is the second detention on the high altitude border since the pitched battles in June in which 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese troops were killed.
Both sides have since poured tens of thousands of troops and heavy weaponry into the tension zone in the Ladakh region, currently in the grip of freezing winter temperatures.
The Indian army said in a statement that the People’s Liberation Army soldier was “apprehended” on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control, as the border is known, in the early hours of Friday and taken into custody.
“The PLA soldier is being dealt with as per laid down procedures, and circumstances under which he had crossed the LAC are being investigated,” the statement added.
Another Chinese soldier was briefly held by Indian forces in the same region in October.
India and China have disputed their frontier for seven decades and fought a brief war in 1962. The two sides blame each other for the current standoff.
The neighbours have held several rounds of disengagement talks but failed to ease the military buildup.
India’s foreign ministry said Friday that the two sides have agreed to a new round of talks between senior commanders.
“In the meantime, both sides have maintained communication at the ground level to avoid any misunderstandings and misjudgements,” it said in a statement. (source)
So far, it does not seem that this incident is going anywhere. However, things like this are what blow up into larger disputes that can trigger a shooting war. Remember less than a year ago that India and China were in a shooting conflict in that area that left forty Chinese and twenty Indians dead. This conflict is far from “over”, but is at a tense deadlock that could resume shooting any time at the slightest incident, intentional or not.
Given the size of India and China, and the move toward global war, there is a chance too that in the event of such a conflict that region will likely become another field of battle.
Get ready, because there is likely going to be blood in the Himalayas.