The broader background underpinning China-India tensions
CGTN
Much of the recent attention concerning the violent confrontation between Indian and Chinese troops in the Galwan river valley has focused on the differences between the two countries over who has rightful control of the region. The dispute is an old one, going back decades and including a brief border war in 1962 and the eventual agreement to establish a Line of Actual Control in 1996.
But the differences between India and China are not solely limited to the territory between the two countries' borders. It also involves disagreement over influence in the wider region, including in South and Central Asia and which is increasingly growing in West Asia, including Iran and the Indian Ocean.
One response to these differences has been to enable communication between India and China. That has been achieved to a degree through a number of different multilateral fora. But while they enable conversations at different levels, it is not always clear how they join up nor how they resolve the broader challenges underpinning the rivalry.
