It would possibly be a little naive to expect that the talks should really resolve anything or even open up the avenues for the negotiators to travel. First the current round of talks are being held at the request of India. So the blinking — as it is often said— has come from the latter. Secondly, China had put up the sudden fight on the border as part of a much broader plan of action. It wanted to show its domestic audience who was in the driver’s seat around all its borders.

It had stoked problems with the Philippines in South China Seas where these waters were barely off the coast of the nearest littoral state. It is putting up claims against Malaysia and its has refused to accept the navigational rights of the international community, in this case being asserted by the US. It has also heavily militarised and constructed bases in disputed island territories in the South China Seas.

In the fight with India in the hills, ironically enough, it is a curious case of the aggressor suddenly ending up in a fright — the fear of direct US intervention in Indo-China border standoff sent China into saying that the two countries’ did not need any mediation from a third party in their border standoff.

China has now been driven to its back feet, at the cost of even tripping over diplomatic niceties to squash even the hint of such interference.

While mounting a military campaign presumably of a limited kind in the Himalayan heights, hoping it should be easy to tackle India on grounds where it has already built considerable military assets, China never bargained for a potential bear hug from its worst bugbear.

But that is what happened all on a sudden as the Indo-China border flared up while Chinese president Xi Jinping was in the midst of his handling of the National People’s Congress.

It is US president Donald Trump who queered the pitch with his Tweet, offering mediation between India and China in the “raging hostilities” on the border. President Trump further added that he had a conversation with Prime Minister Modi and that the latter was “not in a good mood” over the order conflict.

Responding immediately to the presidential Tweet, China hastened to make it clear that there were enough well established mechanisms between the two countries and they did not need any intermediation from America to sort out issues.

Going a little further from established diplomatic norms, China even chose to speak on behalf of India on the issue while putting out its statement. It said that neither India nor China needed US intermediation. India could have well afforded without China elucidating that we do not need American intervention.

Of course, it was against a fundamental position of Indian diplomacy that no third party interference was sought for solving bilateral issues. Once admitted, that could open the flood gates of interference in many outstanding matters.

Following this, it might become difficult to offer its mediation services in disputes between India and Pakistan as well.

But then, the unpredictable US President is leaving almost everyone gasping with his moves and actions. President Trump out of the blue called up PM Narendra Modi inviting India to the global high table of the world’s largest economies.

Trump has invited India to the forthcoming G7 meeting in the US, along with Russia, Australia, South Korea, conspicuously excluding China from it. It is a deliberate snub to China which has left it frothing in the mouth. China immediately responded saying any coalition seeking to draw “small circles” around it was going to fail.

Trump’s move is of concern to China, specially because the invitations rope in Russia once again in the G7 from which it was excluded by former US President Barack Obama in 2014 after it took control of Crimea. Russia must be happy about the invitation, because at least US accepts now Russian annexation of Crimea. More importantly, since 2014, Russia has drifted into the position of being China’s principal ally, at least to the discomfort of the West.

The inclusion of four countries within G7 fold in USA further consolidates the formation of a coalition against China in Asia. Already, Japan, South Korea, India and Australia, under active involvement of the USA, had an understanding to co-ordinate actions as fellow democracies against an overbearing China.

The Chinese are currently under pressure on a host of fronts and the top leadership is taking rather provocative moves on multiple fronts. These are rear guard actions to counter uncontrolled spin-offs of nationalistic over-reach.

China has passed a new law for suppression dissent in Hong Kong which has uniformly alienated the western world. The US has threatened to take Hong Kong out from its special status. The result would be the city’s loss of unique position as a financial centre.

US had also announced stopping all fight rights of Chinese airlines into the United States from June 16. To this China seems to have blinked, opening up its flight windows just a wee bit.

China is in a hurry to assert its super power status and is taking steps far beyond its immediate ability to control.

It is also turning increasingly paranoid about its security as well. A pointer to this is the hike in its defence outlay this year, when all other heads of government expenditure drastic pruning. It is already the second biggest spender on defence and the country is manufacturing sophisticated weapons systems to large aircraft carriers in its pursuit of projecting power across vast distances.

In the process it is antagonising even friends, let alone foes. America is becoming increasingly jittery and only a spark was necessary for the fires to start raging. (IPA Service)