According to Ashley Tellis, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Beijing's concerns "appear to have grown since the August 2019 Indian decision to make Ladakh" a federally administered territory.
India's Hindu rightist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi annexed the disputed Jammu & Kashmir on August 5, 2019, heightening tensions with its nuclear-armed neighbors China and Pakistan.
Carnegie's Tellis believes the latest Chinese advancement in the Ladakh region leave India only with "painful" choices.
"Beijing has moved into disputed territories that did not host a continual Chinese presence as recently as January 2020," Tellis wrote.
In the midst of the tension, China has appointed a new commander to oversee the People's Liberation Army's Ground Forces along the India border. On June 1, it was announced that Lt. Gen. Xu Qiling was appointed as the new commander of the PLA Western Theater Command Ground Force. He will report to General Zhao Zongqi, commander of China's Western Theater Command.
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