If anything, the bilateral dialogue between the defence ministers of India and China, on the side-lines of the SCO meet, was yet another reiteration of the previously held positions — indicating that the differences between the two nations are still far from being resolved. Notably, the defence ministers of the two countries met for the first time after the deadly clash in the Galwan Valley in 2020. The conduct of the recent meeting can be credited more to India’s SCO presidency, rather than to the mutual convergence of the two parties. It may not be wrong to say that the two parties met as a part of the larger SCO design. Early in March this year, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in discussion with his Chinese counterpart Quin Gang on the side-lines of a G-20 conclave, described India-China relations to be “abnormal”. The wording of India’s defence minister’s remarks at the recent bilateral meeting was also very cold. He “categorically conveyed that development of relations between India and China is premised on the prevalence of peace and tranquillity at the borders." He even went on to highlight that the “violation of existing agreements has eroded the entire basis of bilateral relations.” India’s thrust has rightly been on disengagement, followed by de-escalation. The defence minister also has enough clarity on the pathway to address the problem — under the existing bilateral agreements and commitments. The Chinese response, on the other hand, has been marked with hypocrisy and entails a hidden agenda. Despite visibly recurrent tensions along the border, the Chinese defence minister termed India-China border status to be “generally stable.” He urged that “the two sides should take a long-term view, place the border issue in an appropriate position in bilateral relations, and promote the transition of the border situation to normalised management.” The misleading observations from the Chinese side are nothing but an effort to camouflage the country’s vile ambitions of territorial expansion. Be it Tawang clashes in December last year or China’s persistent attempt to rename regions in the Indian territory, the message is loud and clear — China is leaving no stone unturned to register its assertiveness. India-China border relations are marked with the element of fragility, rather than stability — as the Chinese defence minister would like to project. One may note that the starkly different observations of the defence ministers have come despite the fact that, very recently, both sides held a Corps Commander talks on April 23, agreed to stay in close touch, and work out a mutually acceptable solution to the remaining issues in eastern Ladakh at the earliest. Countering each other’s argument, however, is one thing, and changing the situation on the ground is another thing. Apart from its renaming spree in Arunachal Pradesh, China has also deployed personnel and infrastructure to build hybrid villages along the border. These changes are of permanent nature, and difficult to reverse. It is evidently clear that China is strategically moving ahead to alter the realities on the ground. India, apart from ramping up deployments in certain locations, has managed to do just little to counter the Chinese assertiveness. China is fully aware that India’s legitimate claims, be it in Arunachal Pradesh or along the large part of the border, hold greater weight and acceptance. What it is apparently trying to do is to gradually change the prevailing perception towards building a contention where there should be none. How dangerous such attempts can be, is clear from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. The entire world saw how Russian assertiveness on Ukraine translated into a full-fledged war. Though it may seem to be a far-fetched conjecture, China’s military might, coupled with its territorial ambitions, has the potential to lead up to a devastating escalation at some point in future. The background for such conflict may be in the making. India should put extensive efforts to ensure that the bilateral relations between the two nations are not headed in the wrong direction. The unhindered continuation of bilateral trade between India and China is more or less an imperative. China should not read it as a trend towards normalisation.