News + Media

	In the News June 20, 2020 Modi says China isn’t occupying Indian territory after clash Archana ChaudharyBloomberg Vipin Narang quoted: “The biggest implication is that wherever the Chinese have in fact changed the ground status quo—whether in Galwan Valley or Pangong Tso or elsewhere—is tacitly being accepted by the government as de facto Chinese claims,” said Vipin Narang. “One can litigate whether this is in fact ‘Indian territory,’ but it is tacitly accepting whatever faits accomplis China has undertaken.”
	In the News June 19, 2020 China lays claim to entire Galwan Valley Ananth KrishnanThe Hindu M Taylor Fravel quoted: "Chinese maps that I have seen show almost all of the Galwan River as lying within the territory China claims in the area,” M Taylor Fravel, an expert on the Chinese military at MIT, told The Hindu earlier. "The one discrepancy would be the western tip of the Galwan River as it meets the Shyok River. Here, the last few kilometres of the Galwan River are often depicted as lying beyond China’s border. How one defines the parameters of the valley itself might be different than the river, however.”
	In the News June 19, 2020 China Flexes Territorial Muscle – Recent India border clash signals risk Beijing will take in approach to disputes, experts say Chun Han WongThe Wall Street Journal M Taylor Fravel quoted: The use of such forceful tactics "reflects a continuity in China's approach under Xi," said M Taylor Fravel, a professor and director of the MIT Security Studies Program at MIT. "Whether it marks an inflection point in China's foreign policy and a willingness to use force in territorial disputes depends on what happens in the next few days and weeks."
	In the News June 19, 2020 'PLA was acting with higher approval' Pottayil RajendranRediff M Taylor Fravel interviewed on the China-India border dispute. "I don't think China is looking for a wider conflict with India on the China-India border," Dr Fravel tells Senior Rediff.com Contributor Pottayil Rajendran. Read the interview
	In the News June 18, 2020 Modi denies any Indian territory was lost in China clash The Associated PressThe New York Times M Taylor Fravel quoted: From a strategic perspective, Fravel said, China should want to drive a wedge between India and the United States to prevent any kind of counter-balance coalition. "The deaths and the clash on Monday night will probably very quickly and much more rapidly push India closer to the United States, which I think is probably not what China wants,” he said.
	In the News June 18, 2020 Modi finds neighbors silent as India-China tensions simmer Archana Chaudhary and Bibhudatta PradhanBloomberg Vipin Narang quoted: “The optimistic view is that the tragic loss of life will incentivize both governments to energize their efforts to resolve the border dispute,” said Vipin Narang, associate professor of political science at MIT and author of ‘Nuclear Strategy in the Modern Era: Regional Powers and International Conflict.’ “The pessimistic view is that China has no intention of relieving the pressure that it is putting across the entire Line of Actual Control and that this is a long way from being over.”
	In the News June 17, 2020 A watershed moment in India-China relations, says MIT's Vipin Narang Kaushik VaidyaBloomberg \| Quint Vipin Narang was interviewed and heavily quoted in this article about the "violent face-off" in the Galwan Valley on Monday night in which 20 Indian armymen were killed in action. The political mood over the next several days in both countries will be critical he says.
	In the News June 17, 2020 India and China trade barbs after ‘gang war’ high in the Himalayas Joanna Slater and Gerry ShihThe Washington Post M Taylor Fravel quoted: China probably has “little interest in further escalation,” said M Taylor Fravel, an expert on the People’s Liberation Army who heads the Security Studies Program at MIT. “China’s main competitor in East Asia and beyond is the United States, not India.”
	In the News June 17, 2020 Himalayan flashpoint could spiral out of control as India and China face off Julian BorgerThe Guardian Vipin Narang quoted: “Now domestic politics and public opinion, especially nationalist pressure to avenge their deaths and escalate, becomes a dangerous force,” Vipin Narang, a security studies professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said. “It will be hard for India at least, with a relatively open media, to de-escalate as easily now.”
	In the News June 17, 2020 Ladakh face-off \| China’s Foreign Minister blames India ‘for deliberately provoking’ border clash Ananth KrishnanThe Hindu Taylor Fravel quoted: China was unlikely to confirm the number, said M Taylor Fravel, an expert on the Chinese military at MIT. “I can think of no armed conflict involving China where it has released casualty figures publicly at the time of the conflict,” he said. “Usually, they are published years or decades later,” he noted on Twitter, pointing out that casualties from the 1962 were only revealed for the first time in an internal history published in 1994.