According to a US Department of War study, China likely wants to take advantage of the de-escalation of tension along the Line of Actual Control with India in order to stabilize bilateral relations and stop the strengthening of US-India ties.
Indian leadership declared an agreement with China in October 2024, according to the department's annual report to Congress on "Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025" on Tuesday.
Two days prior to a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the fringes of the BRICS Summit, it was agreed to withdraw from the remaining standoff locations along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
It stated that the Xi-Modi encounter signaled the beginning of monthly high-level meetings between the two nations, during which the parties talked about border management and future developments for the bilateral relationship, such as direct flights, the facilitation of visas, and the exchange of journalists and academics.
"China likely wants to take advantage of less tension along the LAC to stabilize bilateral relations and stop US-India ties from getting stronger, but India presumably still has doubts about China's intentions and behavior.
The bilateral connection is most likely limited by ongoing mistrust and other annoyances, according to the survey. Following the conclusion of the more than four-year military conflict along the LAC in eastern Ladakh in October of last year, India and China have taken a number of steps to restore their relations in recent months.
Chinese nationals were once again granted tourist permits by India in July. In recent months, China and India have reached an agreement on a number of people-focused measures to rebuild their relationship.
Resuming direct flights, commemorating the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations, facilitating visas, and agreeing to recommence the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra are some of these. In October, direct flights between the two nations started up again.
Prime Minister Modi and President Xi decided in August to strengthen their bilateral relations in order to tackle urgent issues and seek a "fair" resolution to the long-standing border dispute.
China's National Strategy aims to accomplish "the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" by 2049, according to the Department of War report.
According to this vision, a revitalized China would have increased its "influence, appeal, and power to shape events to a new level" and fielded a "world-class" military capable of "fighting and winning" and "resolutely safeguarding" the nation's interests in development, security, and sovereignty.
China asserts three "core interests," which are regarded as matters so essential to the country's revitalization that their official stance cannot be compromised or negotiated.
These include the control of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), advancing China's economic growth, and upholding and extending China's territorial claims and sovereignty.
It stated that in the context of territorial conflicts in the South China Sea, the Senkaku Islands, and the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, "China's leadership has extended the term 'core interest' to cover Taiwan and China's sovereignty claims."
According to the report, US-China relations are "stronger than they have been in many years" under President Donald Trump's leadership, and the Department of War will assist initiatives to expand on this development.
"We will accomplish this, in part, by expanding military-to-military communications with the People's Liberation Army (PLA), with an emphasis on strategic stability and, more generally, deconfliction and de-escalation. It declared, "We will also look for other ways to make clear our peaceful intentions."
US interests in the Indo-Pacific are fundamental, but they are also reasonable and well-defined, according to the research. "We have no intention of oppressing, controlling, or dehumanizing China.
Instead, as stated in President Trump's National Security Strategy, our sole goal is to prevent any Indo-Pacific nation from controlling us or our friends.
That entails being so powerful that peace is favored and maintained since aggression is not even taken into consideration, it stated.
Therefore, strengthening deterrence in the Indo-Pacific by force rather than conflict will be the Department of War's top priority.
"The Department of War will make sure that President Trump can accomplish his goals of a stable peace, fair trade, and respectful relations with China from a position of military strength.
In the process, we will create and maintain a balance of power that will allow us to all enjoy a respectable peace in the Indo-Pacific region, where trade is open and equitable, everyone can prosper, and the interests of all states are upheld," it stated.
