Book Reviews

The May-June standoff in Ladakh between the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA caught not just India but the world by surprise as everyone's attention was on tackling the Covid-19 pandemic. Why did China choose this moment to become an aggressor militarily? What are the lingering disputes between these Asian giants who would soon become the top two economies in the world? What have been the historical links between these areas and the Indian mainland? What is the geostrategic importance of Ladakh? Did internal tensions within the Chinese Communist Party cause relations with India to break down? This book addresses these, and many such questions, in detail. It brings in topics of history, trade and cultural connections across the Himalayas to better understand how and why the India-China border dispute arose and to engender a better appreciation of the ground situation as well as take a macro view of the relationship.