The apex China Study Group met on Monday to discuss the PLA action on the ground in Ladakh and its military posture in occupied Aksai Chin region of Tibet

With the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) still holding forward positions on Pangong Tso and Gogra-Hot Springs area of Ladakh and showing no signs of a promised de-escalation, the Narendra Modi government is contemplating further action against China on economic front to drive home the message that India means business.

According to senior government officials familiar with the matter, the apex China Study Group (CSG) met on Monday to discuss the PLA action on the ground in Ladakh and its military posture in occupied Aksai Chin region of Tibet. The CSG, which has India’s senior most ministers, military leaders and bureaucrat as members, is the body that recommends the country’s course on action with China.

While China wants India to normalize diplomatic relations on an as-is-where-is basis, the Modi government firmly believes that anything short of status quo ante in Ladakh sector is unacceptable with a cost attached to it. Despite being the aggressor, the PLA believes that its troops are well within it own perception of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh. Thus, it is holding on to the positions at both Gogra-Hot Springs as well as the green top of finger four feature of Pangong Tso lake while making unacceptable demands on Indian Army posts.

According to officials, the Indian Army has been asked to remain in forward positions along the 1597 km LAC in Ladakh.

On July 5, the Indian Special Representative on boundary dialogue spoke to his Chinese counterpart for more than two hours.

The two decided that both sides fully disengage and then de-escalate but a month later, the situation has reached a stalemate with the Chinese offering a diplomatic face-saver to India without any corresponding withdrawal on the ground.

Now that the US has taken action against Huawei and its supporting entities for spying, it is quite evident that India will also keep the Chinese communication and power companies out of any future projects.

The Modi government is clear that the bilateral ties are directly linked with the border peace and will not allow them on a parallel track as in the past.