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INTERNATIONAL The mountains of the Galwan region are of high strategic value for both nations
The deadly clash at patrolling Point 14 on a ridge line overlooking the fast flowing Galwan river in eastern Ladakh, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed, echoes episodes of the Great Game — the late 19th century tussle where colonial Britain worked feverishly to block Russian influence from permeating through the mountainous “gates” of India.
There were multiple fronts of the Great Game, including Central Asia and Afghanistan, but Ladakh, starting from Leh, known for its lucrative trade through the lofty Karakoram Pass, into the heart of Xinjiang, had become an important spur in this grand imperial rivalry.
But two decades into the 21st century, India and China — two aspirational Asian nations — are following this trail of rivalry at strategic pivots along their contested mountainous borders.
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Point 14, overlooking the Galwan river valley, is one of these key fulcrums, over which the Indian Army and the People’s Liberation Army of China brutally clashed with...