It’s Not Just Taiwan: China Plots Indian Land Grab

Mike WatsonNovember 2, 2026

So much of Washington’s focus is on Taiwan that Americans sometimes overlook Beijing’s disputes with nearly all its neighbors. While China’s claims in the South China Sea and disputes over islands with U.S. allies get attention, its territorial ambitions to the south – especially toward India – are less noticed.

Beijing seeks to take sizable tracts of Indian land, including the whole northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, and skirmishes between Indian and Chinese troops along their roughly 2,000-mile border are frequent. china is stepping up pressure on India,and the United States should assist New Delhi in defending its sovereignty.

Tensions appeared to ease after Xi Jinping visited New Delhi last month and the two nations resumed direct flights that India had halted after the 2020 Galwan Valley clash, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed. Still, the head of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police recently reported multiple ongoing face-offs in Arunachal Pradesh.

China’s advantage stems largely from logistics.It is indeed far easier for Beijing to move forces and equipment down from the Tibetan Plateau than for India to advance into the Himalayas. During the 1962 war, China seized Aksai Chin after building a nearby road that improved its access. since then the infrastructure gap has widened: Beijing’s Western Development Program has produced almost 70,000 miles of roads in Tibet, plus significant rail and other projects, and in the past decade it has built nearly 1,000 dual-use “xiaokang” villages on or near territory India claims. Some Chinese incursions even route thru Bhutan, which is trying to avoid antagonizing either neighbor.

This build-up allows the Chinese military to press India’s frontier at many points. After India curbed China in Galwan, Beijing shifted its pressure elsewhere; the current standoff in Arunachal is the first there since 1975. Although both sides have pledged not to use firearms in border clashes, confrontations can still be deadly – and beijing has rewarded aggressive commanders, for example elevating the officer whose unit killed 20 Indians to a visible role at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

China’s projects on the Tibetan Plateau also threaten India’s water security. Much of South Asia relies on Himalayan rivers, and China could constrain flows by building dams on rivers that begin in its territory. One massive hydro project under construction in Tibet is estimated at about 60,000 megawatts – potentially three times the size of the Three Gorges Dam.

India is scrambling to catch up. Under prime Minister Modi, New Delhi has stepped up border infrastructure, but doing so in a democracy is more complex than in China. Indian forces in Arunachal must contend not only with Chinese military pressure but also with local unrest – as a notable example, mass protests linked to an Indian dam near the border.

the United States has already deepened defense ties with India.During president Trump’s first term, the two countries expanded intelligence sharing and other security agreements; U.S. intelligence reportedly helped India force a Chinese retreat during a 2022 border clash. Beijing also fears Tibetan resistance: India hosts the Dalai Lama and tibetan exiles, and concerns persist about groups like India’s secretive Special Frontier Force.

U.S.-India relations hit some bumps after initial hopes for close cooperation in a potential Trump second term – early U.S. mediation efforts on India-Pakistan issues met India’s insistence on staying out of Kashmir, and U.S. engagement with Pakistan alarmed New Delhi. But ties have been improving recently: Indian refineries are moving Venezuelan oil into markets, trade talks are progressing, India joined the “Pax Silica” AI and supply-chain initiative, and U.S. lawmakers have expressed optimism about the bilateral relationship.

India’s economy remains smaller than China’s, but its demographics give it staying power. Helping India defend its borders would strengthen its ability to resist Chinese pressure and would support a more balanced regional order.

Narendra Modi (Josh Chadwick/AFL Photos/via Getty Images), Xi Jinping (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

So much of Washington’s attention is concentrated on Taiwan that Americans sometimes forget China picks fights with nearly all of its other neighbors too. Beijing’s claims to the South China Sea and various islands owned by our allies garner some attention, but the land grabs to China’s south are less well known.

Beijing wants to seize significant amounts of Indian territory, including the entire northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, and clashes between Indian and Chinese troops along their 2,000-mile-long border are common. The Chinese are putting more pressure on India, and the United States should help New Delhi defend its sovereignty.

The Indo-China dispute seemed to have calmed down after Xi Jinping visited India’s capital last month. The two countries finally restored direct flights, which India had suspended after China killed 20 Indian soldiers during a 2020 standoff in the Galwan Valley. But the head of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police recently acknowledged, “in the past few days, a situation arose where [a] face-off happened at several locations in Arunachal and it still continues.”

China’s encroachment is difficult for India to counter. It is much easier for China to surge troops and equipment from the Tibetan Plateau than it is for India to move up into the Himalayas. Beijing seized the disputed Aksai Chin region during its 1962 invasion, largely thanks to the logistical benefits of building a road nearby a few years before.

The imbalance in infrastructure has grown since. From the time it instituted the Western Development Program nearly three decades ago, Beijing has built nearly 70,000 miles of road in Tibet, along with substantial rail lines and other infrastructure. Over the past decade, it has also constructed nearly 1,000 xiaokang villages on or near Indian territory. Sometimes Chinese encroachments take detours through Bhutan, a small Himalayan kingdom that desperately seeks to avoid drawing either of its neighbors’ ire.

Thanks to this buildout, the Chinese military can push at any point along the lengthy border with relative ease. Once the Indian military got a handle on Galwan, the Chinese shifted elsewhere; the new standoff in Arunachal Pradesh is the first in the area since 1975. Both sides have agreed not to use firearms during border clashes, but as the Galwan battle shows, the fights can still be deadly. Xi encourages aggression as well: The commander of the unit that killed 20 Indians got to be a torchbearer during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

China’s Tibetan projects also pose other problems for India. Much of South Asia depends on water from the Himalayas, and Beijing threatens to restrict it by building too many dams on rivers originating in its territory. For example, a 60,000-megawatt dam under construction in Tibet could be three times the size of the Three Gorges Dam.

New Delhi is racing to catch up. During Prime Minister Modi’s tenure, the Indian government has built more infrastructure in border regions. This is not as easy for democratic India as it is for the CCP: In addition to squaring off with China’s military, Indian security forces in Arunachal Pradesh are also dealing with mass protests related to an Indian dam.

And yet, Xi does not hold all the cards. During President Trump’s first term, the United States and India expanded their intelligence sharing and signed other defense-related agreements too. Thanks to U.S. intelligence, India was able to force the Chinese to retreat during a 2022 land grab.

The Chinese Communist Party is equally worried about threats from inside Tibet. India hosts the Dalai Lama, who began his life as the spiritual and political leader of Tibet before the Chinese forced him into exile. Beijing has erected an elaborate system to surveil and control the Tibetan population, but it still fears the influence of the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan refugees, such as the members of India’s secretive Special Frontier Force.

India had high hopes for Trump’s second term, but both countries have been frustrated over the past couple of years. Trump’s early push for brokering peace, including during the May 2025 India-Pakistan clash, ran headlong into India’s longtime insistence that other countries should keep out of the Kashmir dispute. The president’s subsequent partnership with Pakistan on unrelated issues raises significant concerns across India, which has been attacked by Pakistan-backed terrorists for decades.

Things are getting back on track. Indian refineries are getting Venezuelan oil to global markets, trade negotiations are heading to a mutually satisfactory conclusion, and New Delhi recently joined the “Pax Silica” AI and supply chain agreement. During his trip to India, Marco Rubio said, “I think in five years, we’ll look back and say it’s one of the strongest relationships in the world.”

That is the right way to think. India’s economy is smaller than China’s, but it has the demographic heft to stand up to its northern neighbor. Helping India defend its territory would go a long way to making that prediction true.