China built-up along the Indian border continue as long as interest in Gwadhar port in Pakistan is alive. China is investing in the development of a corridor connecting the hinder land with the port to get the assess to the West and Middle East market along with getting its navy placed in the Arabian Sea. It is also developing an all weather highway which passes thorough the Pakistan occupied Kashmir for better connectivity. So it has to keep the pressure alive on the borders with India, which India sees as a two pronged threat including Pakistan. The Indian timidity on the development looks as if it has forgotten 1962 and the North East standoff, the way border talks are held at commander level. It is difficult to say how much of this is driven by internal considerations to maintain internal stability, and how much of it is an external consideration. The US Defence Department also warned of China’s increasing military presence including bases in various parts of the world, in particular Pakistan – with which it has a “longstanding friendly relationship and similar strategic interests”. China’s expanding international economic interests are increasing demands for the PLA Navy (PLAN) to operate in more distant seas to protect Chinese citizens, investments, and critical sea lines of communication. China most likely will seek to establish additional naval logistics hubs in countries with which it has a longstanding friendly relationship and similar strategic interests, such as Pakistan, and a precedent for hosting foreign militaries. The Pentagon in its report expressed its concerns about Chinese military buildup near the Indian border. After a five-day military standoff in September 2015 at Burtse in Northern Ladakh, China and India held a senior-level flag-officer meeting, agreed to maintain peace, and retreated to positions mutually acceptable to both sides. The Pentagon said tensions remain with India along their shared 4,057-km border over Arunachal Pradesh (which China asserts is part of Tibet and, therefore, of China), and over the Askai Chin region at the western end of the Tibetan Plateau, despite increases in China-India political and economic relations.
