Chinese and Indian soldiers exchanged good wishes and sweets at the border at the start of the New Year 2022, a move seen as a sign that both sides want to ease the nearly 20-month-long border standoff.
On Jan. 1, when China’s newly adopted Land Border Law of the People’s Republic of China came into effect, the People’s Liberation Army displayed a five-star red flag in China’s Galwan Valley and took an oath in front of it, once again asserting China’s undisputed sovereignty over the region.
Rahul Gandhi, leader of India’s domestic opposition Congress party, called the move an “invasion” on social media on Jan. 2 and urged the Narendra Modi government to “break its silence” and “respond to China” on the issue.
In fact, the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs, in conjunction with relevant authorities, had previously standardized some of the names in the southern Tibetan region of China, adding to the public use of names in the Tibetan region, and the Indian side had also raised objections when Rahul Gandhi and his party, the Congress Party, also mocked Modi over the matter.
Chinese media outlet Global Times wrote on its Twitter account, “In the Galwan Valley near the border with #India, under the characters ‘Never yield an inch of land,’ PLA soldiers send new year greetings to Chinese people on January 1, 2022.”
According to India Today, India’s New Delhi TV and other Indian media, the Indian opposition party have seized on this matter to “make a big fuss” and used it to target the ruling BJP government in India.
On January 2, local time, Indian Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted: “Our tricolor flag (meaning the Indian flag) looks good in the Galwan Valley. Should respond to China. Modi, break the silence.”
Several times during the ongoing India-China border dispute, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has emphasized that sovereignty over the Galwan Valley region has historically belonged to China.
On the first day of 2022, the Indian media had focused on the positive signals emerging from the Sino-Indian border.
On the first day of New Year 2022, soldiers of the Chinese and Indian armies exchanged New Year wishes and sweets to celebrate the arrival of the New Year at 10 locations along the Line of Actual Control along the Sino-Indian border, including the “friction point” between the two countries in the eastern part of the “Ladakh” region.
The Times of India mentioned in its report that this “interaction” between the two armies comes ahead of the 14th round of India-China military chief-level talks, which are likely to be held later in January. The move could also be seen as a sign that the two sides want to ease the nearly 20-month-long border standoff, the report said.
“The local commanders and the PLA side keep interacting, which helps ease tensions along the border, while the high-level diplomatic and military dialogue (between India and China) will also address these issues.” A senior Indian military officer had this to say.
It was also reported that on Dec. 29, 2021, the website of China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) issued an announcement on the addition of geographic names for public use in the southern Tibetan region (second batch), saying that in accordance with the relevant regulations of the State Council of China on the management of geographic names, the MCA, together with relevant departments, has standardized some geographic names in the southern Tibetan region of China and officially announced the second batch of additional geographic names for public use in the region (15 in total).
On December 31, 2021, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian pointed out that the southern Tibetan region is located in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region and has been Chinese territory for a long time. Chinese compatriots of the Monba, Tibetan and other ethnic minorities have long lived and produced in the region, and have inherited many place names. In order to strengthen the standardization and standardized management of geographical names, the competent authorities of the Chinese government have announced the second batch of publicly used geographical names in the southern Tibetan region in accordance with the Regulations on the Administration of Geographical Names, which is entirely within the scope of Chinese sovereignty.
With regard to the latest situation on the Sino-Indian border, Zhao Lijian had introduced at a regular press conference on December 21, 2021 that the current situation on the Sino-Indian border is generally stable. China and India are maintaining dialogue and communication through diplomatic and military channels on promoting the de-escalation of the border situation.
