Skrimish between India and China leaves at least three people dead.

File photo of a joint India/China conference room used for deescalation. Reuters.

A skirmish between China and India in the border region of Galwan Valley has left at least three Indian soldiers dead. Reuters. No shots were fired in the brawl but the casualties happened due to stones being thrown and batons being used, leading to the deaths, which included a Indian Colonel. Thousands of troops have been deployed to the disputed region and efforts to deescalate the situation have been ongoing. Conflict has been common in the region, often resulting in brawls, and even a brief war in 1962. However, this is the first clash that has resulted in a death since 1967. The Chinese may have suffered losses in the skirmish as well, but it is unclear if it included deaths or just injuries. Both countries blame the other for starting the conflict. 

My Comment:

This outcome is not surprising as tensions had been very high in the Galwan Valley for weeks now. They have already had several brawls in recent days and both sides have deployed thousands of troops. It seems the troops on the ground are itching for a fight and even though nobody got shot, now people have died. 

I'm not sure if this event was planned or if it was spontaneous. It's possible that the commanders in charge of the troops there didn't have strong enough control over them and that they started to brawl on their own. If so, that's a bad sign as it shows poor discipline from both sides. 

It's also possible that this was deliberately done in order to test the other side. Without any reason to trust either sides version of events, I won't say who started this, but it's very possible that each side wants to push their claims and send a message to the other side that they are not to be messed with. 

It's unclear if the deaths were intentional. When people are throwing rocks at each other or hitting each other with batons it's easy enough for someone to die. Though hitting someone with a rock or baton has a high chance of death, so it's not like they didn't know the risk. My guess is that this was a brawl that got out of control and fast. 

I do wonder how things didn't escalate after at least three people died. YOu would think that one side or the other would see their guys getting killed and would respond with heavier force, but that didn't happen. I'm guessing that they were under orders to not fire unless fired upon and since neither side fired all that happened was a brawl. 

Is this the first skirmish of a new border war between China and India? I kinda doubt it. Border skirmishes happen all the time in the region and the brief fight between India and Pakistan in 2019 didn't evolve into a war, despite that involving actual gunplay and air battles. My guess is that cooler heads will prevail here and no larger conflict will erupt. 

I do have to wonder what China is doing though. You would think that with the Coronavirus dragging their name through the mud they would want to avoid conflict at all costs. Pressing their claims against India now seems like a terrible idea when the country is so vulnerable. Of course their goal might just be to cause a little more chaos for their enemies and neighbors as North Korea's new hostility might be a Chinese effort as well. Time will tell what China is trying to do here and regardless of the outcome I don't think it's anything good.