Right now its eyeball to eyeball. Lets move back few km and wait and watch. Chinese already have road upto Chumbi valley so this confrontation above that valley will not make vast difference. Even an IA general has written that. And building up strength requires us to have 40-50 regiments of rocket artillery and 1000s of additional heavy artillery in fixed time period. Thats my stand
See my edit pls.
Since you are trying to talk some sense now instead of negative / prophetic baloney, I'll bite:
Sometimes in geopolitics, as in life, setting a precedent counts for more longer term gains than merely looking at downside risks for a limited short-term gain. Believe this is what we are doing now. If we move back, it will have signalling effects to:
1. China: that we are easy pushovers when we can cede areas of some strategic interest to us (while they have absolutely minimal benefits arguing about this piece of land so far away from key drivers of their economy);
2. Bhutan: that we are not a reliable ally in helping them safeguard their "disputed" territories. This could nudge them towards accepting China's influence - an even more dangerous proposition in the long-term.
3. The world: that we are nothing more than a small-time player constrained to South Asia, restricted on almost all sides in terms of our projection. That we are certainly not a potential powerhouse, counter to China, potential driver of global growth, etc. That will in turn affect our ability to form strategic partnerships, attract FDI crucial to our long-term growth trajectory, general / defence modernisation.
As other posters have noted, people who are strategically more capable and informed than either you or I are looking / choosing best possible options on this on an on-going basis. What is needed of us is to be ready, if needed, and be supportive of national interests, in general.
