Shaming China on a Global Forum

Context:

India’s External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar said that the situation at the India-China Line of Actual Control (LAC) has arisen due to the “disregard” by China of “written agreements”. But what China has been doing at the LAC is not a mere “disregard”.
It is a blatant violation of international law as part of a larger game of Chinese expansionism

The India-China LAC engagement is guided by a series of bilateral agreements that the two sides have signed over the years.
A central tenet of all these agreements is the complete proscription on the threat or use of force.
For instance, a 1993 agreement between India and China provides that neither side shall use or threaten to use force against the other by any means.
It further enunciates that the India-China boundary question shall be resolved through peaceful and friendly consultations.
Likewise, Article I of the 1996 agreement on confidence-building measures between the two sides prohibits the use of military capability against the other side.
The prohibition on the use of force is also enshrined in Article I and Article VIII of the 2005 and 2013 agreements, respectively.
States being forbidden from using force in international relations is a cardinal rule of international law codified in Article 2(4) of the United Nations (UN) Charter.
The UN Charter recognises two exceptions to this rule — self-defence under Article 51 and UN Security Council authorisation under Chapter VII of the Charter.
The June 15, 2020 military scuffle between India and China in Galwan, that led to the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers, was a clear case of China using military force against India.
This Chinese aggression not only violates all the bilateral treaties between India-China but also the UN Charter.

New Delhi should develop its strategy of ethical lawfare by mainstreaming international law lexicon into its diplomatic toolkit to respond to Beijing’s challenge.
Rather than pussyfooting around, India should make a strong legal case by painstakingly marshalling all the international treaties, including the UN Charter and customary international law, at every forum to call out China’s illegal actions.
An unequivocal proclamation should be made at all international platforms that India reserves the right to act in self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter to counter any Chinese misadventure.
Enacting a national security law aimed at imposing restrictions or sanctions of various kinds (trade, economic, military) on those countries with whom India shares a land border can be an option.
The purpose of India’s lawfare should be to ably demonstrate to the world that China’s international law violations pose a threat to the entire international community — not just India.

Source: THE HINDU.