How can India counter China-Pakistan joint 'mission' amid Ladakh tension?

As tension between India and China along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh persists, the former's defence minister Rajnath Singh said that Beijing and Islamabad are creating a border dispute 'under a mission'.

Chinese and Pakistani interests converge in the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh area, especially on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

Singh's comments make it clear that the Indian government is looking at the big picture in the conflict which has stretched on since early summer and seems set to continue through Ladakh's harsh winter.

The minister made the comments on the day that the 7th round of talks between Indian and Chinese delegations were held near the LAC to disengage troops, albeit with low hope of the same happening.

China experts Srikanth Kondapalli, Professor of Chinese Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and Atul Aneja, a senior journalist, discuss with Hindustan Times' Aditi Prasad the options that India has against this joint 'mission' in its neighbourhood.