Entwined Borders: The China-India Standoff

*SCHEDULING CHANGE: Please note that this event has been rescheduled to 2pm PT.

The long-standing territorial dispute between China and India, stretching over 3,440 kilometers, has been a persistent source of tension and conflict between these two nations. The historical conflict escalated into a brief but significant war in 1962. In recent years, tensions have flared up once again, particularly since 2020, resulting in clashes near critical areas like Pangong Lake, Galwan Valley, and various other points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). 

Join the China Program at Stanford Shorenstein APARC for an in-depth look at the background for the recent clashes as we provide a comprehensive exploration of the dispute's historical context, the current management of tensions, and its potential implications for the future of China-India relations. 

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Eric Doornbos joined the Office of the Geographer and Global Issues at the U.S. Department of State in 2015.  He manages the international boundary and sovereignty disputes analysis portfolio. In his work, he addresses questions pertaining to land boundary alignment, sovereignty disputes, and maritime claims. He also manages the U.S. Government’s authoritative set of global land boundaries, the Large Scale International Boundaries dataset. He is in his final year of a PhD program at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS) at the University of Wollongong. At ANCORS, his research examines the processes which drive states to claim excessive security rights in their various maritime zones. Eric holds a MA in Security Studies from Georgetown University and a BA in History and International Relations from Calvin College.

Arzan Tarapore is a Research Scholar whose research focuses on Indian military strategy and regional security issues in the Indo-Pacific. Prior to his scholarly career, he served for 13 years in the Australian Defence Department in various analytic, management, and liaison positions, including operational deployments and a diplomatic posting to the Australian Embassy in Washington, DC. Tarapore joined Stanford University in September 2020. Prior to joining CISAC, he led the South Asia Initiative at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford. He previously held research positions at Georgetown University, the East-West Center in Washington, the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, and the RAND Corporation.

Laura Stone, a member of the U.S. Department of State, is the Inaugural China Policy Fellow (2022-24) at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC). She was formerly Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Maldives, the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for China and Mongolia, the Director of the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs, and the Director of the Economic Policy Office in the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs. She served in Hanoi, Beijing, Bangkok, Tokyo, the Public Affairs Bureau, the Pentagon Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. While at APARC, she is conducting research with the China Program on contemporary China affairs and U.S.-China policy.