The ongoing tensions between Indian and Chinese armies are the result of India's hardline approach in dealing with its border dispute with China, and that its actions have seriously heightened the strategic mistrust between the both sides, according to an editorial piece published in Global Times which is an English-language Chinese newspaper.
The piece published on September 1 stated that from the Doklam crisis (dating back to 2017) to the Galwan Valley clash in June this year, India has been "taking a radical and hardline approach in dealing with the China-India border dispute."
The editorial added that the system adopted by India to manage the border situation for decades "is now crumbling" and that routine friction at the border will "exhaust both countries".
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It further said that rather than taking the negotiations as the main path, India has pinned its hopes on boosting ties with "external forces, including the US, to exert pressure on China."
Alleging that India has not cooperated with China since the Galwan Valley clash, and that its national security outlook is "twisted", the editorial goes on to claim that despite the country's defence budget (for 2019) reaching $71.1 billion, and ranking third in the world, or about 2.4 per cent of its GDP, a large part of it was spent on "meaningless border frictions with its neighbours."
The country has gone "astray playing geopolitics with China" and countries like the US will "never really offer a hand to India", the news piece opined, adding that it (the US) will rather take advantage of the South Asian giant (India).
In a rather veiled attempt to threaten India, the editorial forewarned that if both the countries are "really engaged in comprehensive antagonism", China can easily rope in countries, comprising Pakistan, against India.
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Calling out India as "misguided", the news piece said that India should concentrate on improving the living standard of its people who are in dire poverty rather than obsessing over "national security", which it takes as the "gauge of measuring its ties with China."
Terming China's growth as "far ahead of India's", the editorial expressed that the country (China) is an "immovable neighbour and much stronger than India" and that both countries should rather concentrate on seeking common development.
However, if New Delhi goes on to label Beijing as its "long-term strategic rival", it should be ready "to pay a huge cost", it warned.