While the situation along the Actual Line of Control has generally stabilized, New Delhi has kept sending worrying and complicating signals and even taken unilateral and confrontational moves to ratchet up the border dispute with China. Such a stance is detrimental and will only worsen the already ailing relations between the two neighbors.

 

In a provocative move, India's Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday paid a visit to Southern Tibet, which India unilaterally and illegally refers to as "Arunachal Pradesh". This was naturally met with strong opposition from the Chinese side.

 

Given the current low level of mutual trust between the two sides, Beijing has a good reason to demand New Delhi stop taking any actions that may complicate the border issue and undermine bilateral ties. New Delhi shoulders an unshirkable responsibility to work with Beijing to bring bilateral ties back onto a sound and stable terrain.