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So much of Washington’s attention is concentrated on Taiwan that Americans sometimes forget China picks fights with nearly all of its other neighbors too. Beijing’s claims to the South China Sea and various islands owned by our allies garner some attention, but the land grabs to China’s south are less well known.
Beijing wants to seize significant amounts of Indian territory, including the entire northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, and clashes between Indian and Chinese troops along their 2,000-mile-long border are common. The Chinese are putting more pressure on India, and the United States should help New Delhi defend its sovereignty.
The Indo-China dispute seemed to have calmed down after Xi Jinping visited India’s capital last month. The two countries finally restored direct flights, which India had suspended after China killed 20 Indian soldiers during a 2020 standoff in the Galwan Valley. But the head of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police recently acknowledged, “in the past few days, a situation arose where [a] face-off happened at several locations in Arunachal and it still continues.”
China’s encroachment is difficult for India to counter. It is much easier for China to surge troops and equipment from the Tibetan Plateau than it is for India to move up into the Himalayas. Beijing seized the disputed Aksai Chin region during its 1962 invasion, largely thanks to the logistical benefits of building a road nearby a few years before.
The imbalance in infrastructure has grown since. From the time it instituted the Western Development Program nearly three decades ago, Beijing has built nearly 70,000 miles of road in Tibet, along with substantial rail lines and other infrastructure. Over the past decade, it has also constructed nearly 1,000 xiaokang villages on or near Indian territory. Sometimes Chinese encroachments take detours through Bhutan, a small Himalayan kingdom that desperately seeks to avoid drawing either of its neighbors’ ire.
Thanks to this buildout, the Chinese military can push at any point along the lengthy border with relative ease. Once the Indian military got a handle on Galwan, the Chinese shifted elsewhere; the new standoff in Arunachal Pradesh is the first in the area since 1975. Both sides have agreed not to use firearms during border clashes, but as the Galwan battle shows, the fights can still be deadly. Xi encourages aggression as well: The commander of the unit that killed 20 Indians got to be a torchbearer during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
China’s Tibetan projects also pose other problems for India. Much of South Asia depends on water from the Himalayas, and Beijing threatens to restrict it by building too many dams on rivers originating in its territory. For example, a 60,000-megawatt dam under construction in Tibet could be three times the size of the Three Gorges Dam.
New Delhi is racing to catch up. During Prime Minister Modi’s tenure, the Indian government has built more infrastructure in border regions. This is not as easy for democratic India as it is for the CCP: In addition to squaring off with China’s military, Indian security forces in Arunachal Pradesh are also dealing with mass protests related to an Indian dam.
And yet, Xi does not hold all the cards. During President Trump’s first term, the United States and India expanded their intelligence sharing and signed other defense-related agreements too. Thanks to U.S. intelligence, India was able to force the Chinese to retreat during a 2022 land grab.
The Chinese Communist Party is equally worried about threats from inside Tibet. India hosts the Dalai Lama, who began his life as the spiritual and political leader of Tibet before the Chinese forced him into exile. Beijing has erected an elaborate system to surveil and control the Tibetan population, but it still fears the influence of the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan refugees, such as the members of India’s secretive Special Frontier Force.
India had high hopes for Trump’s second term, but both countries have been frustrated over the past couple of years. Trump’s early push for brokering peace, including during the May 2025 India-Pakistan clash, ran headlong into India’s longtime insistence that other countries should keep out of the Kashmir dispute. The president’s subsequent partnership with Pakistan on unrelated issues raises significant concerns across India, which has been attacked by Pakistan-backed terrorists for decades.
Things are getting back on track. Indian refineries are getting Venezuelan oil to global markets, trade negotiations are heading to a mutually satisfactory conclusion, and New Delhi recently joined the “Pax Silica” AI and supply chain agreement. During his trip to India, Marco Rubio said, “I think in five years, we’ll look back and say it’s one of the strongest relationships in the world.”
That is the right way to think. India’s economy is smaller than China’s, but it has the demographic heft to stand up to its northern neighbor. Helping India defend its territory would go a long way to making that prediction true.
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NBC/Snapstream

Friday’s NBC Nightly News was the only network newscast to detail the newest controversy of Michigan Democratic Senate Candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s new conflict with his former Democratic primary opponent, Representative Haley Stevens. NBC noted that Stevens’ fiancé said he would not vote for El-Sayed, and detailed plans for Stevens to campaign with El-Sayed, which now seem up in the air.Amid NBC’s mid-term reporting, with an initial focus on the Decoy Dan Sullivan story in Alaska and Trump rescheduling of rallies, White House correspondent Gabe Gutierrez talked about the Michigan Senate race, which he described as “getting more heated.”After playing a clip of El-Sayed mocking Vice President JD Vance, Gutierrez turned to mention Stevens and her fiancé: Friday’s NBC Nightly News was the ONLY network evening newscast to mention the conflict between Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and his former primary opponent, Haley Stevens. Reporter Gabe Guttierez noted a planned campaign event between Stevens and… pic.twitter.com/RxnuACNoMI— Nick (@nspin310) October 31, 2026 El-Sayed, now set to campaign on Sunday for the first time with his democratic primary opponent, Haley Stevens. Though just days ago, her fiancé, a prominent Jewish Democrat, said he’s voting for Rogers, pointing to El-Sayed views on Israel.NBC played a clip of Stevens’ fiance, where he said, “He makes my community less safe. He makes a lot of communities.”Gutierrez, doing his report just before the El-Sayed campaign seemed to want to distance himself from Stevens attending a campaign event, added, “But Stevens is calling Sunday’s event a unifying moment.”He then noted the controversy of El-Sayed ignoring Stevens in the first place: “El-Sayed was pressed on why it took so long to campaign with her.”Expectedly, El-Sayed had a meltdown after being asked the question. He told the reporter who pressed him on Stevens to “Ask me a serious question.”Notably, the proposed campaign event is now in deep question, after a statement from the campaign complained about Steven’s donations from AIPAC from the primary she lost, and said, “Congresswoman Stevens seems intent on litigating a primary from three months ago.”Politico’s Adam Wren has reported the campaign is “asking Stevens to stay away from all future campaign events in the closing days of the race”One reason the El-Sayed campaign may be mad is Stevens’ insistence that El-Sayed condemn an advertisement from the PAC of The Young Turks founder Cenk Uyghur, also the uncle of terrorist sympathizer Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, that blamed Israel “killing Palestinians” for high grocery prices. FOX News’s Rich Edson also detailed the El-Sayed/Stevens conflict just minutes before El-Sayed’s campaign seemed to distance itself from wanting Haley Stevens to campaign with him, giving focus to El-Sayed’s non-disavowal of an anti-Israel ad by Cenk Uygur: https://t.co/unsqIvHV48 pic.twitter.com/fIlasfF662— Nick (@nspin310) October 31, 2026 On FOX News’s Special Report, correspondent Rich Edson focused partly on the advertisement in a report on the Michigan race, with more focus on the Uyghur ad:Democratic Congressman Hailey Stevens released a statement this morning that said she will, for the first time, campaign with El-Sayed. Now remember, she lost narrowly to El-Sayed in the Democratic primary. She hasn’t campaigned with him yet, but first she’s expecting El-Sayed to condemn this ad that Hasan Piker’s uncle produced, one that blames inflation in Michigan on Israel. Stevens says El-Sayed has made that argument himself and has challenged El-Sayed to get Israel out of his explanation for everything Michigan cannot afford.ABC did not mention the Michigan Senate race as part of its midterms coverage of Friday night, as Jonathan Karl instead decided to continue to promote Kansas’s Democratic candidate for Senate. CBS’s only mention of the Michigan race featured a preview of a Ross Douthat interview with Michigan’s Republican candidate for Senate, Mike Rogers. Earlier on Friday, CBS Mornings featured a preview of the El-Sayed interview, also set to air on the next 60 Minutes.Unlike ABC and CBS, NBC Nightly News continues to heavily focus on El-Sayed’s controversies, as it did when Llamas pushed El-Sayed on alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood earlier this month, to his displeasure.The transcripts from NBC Nightly News and FNC’s Special Report are below. Click “expand”:NBC Nightly NewsOctober 30, 20266:35:55 PM EasternGABE GUTIERREZ: Now, in Michigan, the Senate race between Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul el-Sayed is getting even more heated.ABDUL EL-SAYED (D-MI): What’s his name? JV Dance. They keep sending JV here. JV’s got zero charisma.GUTIERREZ: El-Sayed now set to campaign on Sunday for the first time with his democratic primary opponent. Haley Stevens. Though just days ago, her fiancé, a prominent Jewish Democrat, said he’s voting for Rogers, pointing to el-sayed views on Israel.JASON TURKISH (STEVENS’s FIANCE): He makes my community less safe. He makes a lot of communities.GUTIERREZ: But Stevens is calling Sunday’s event a unifying moment.EL-SAYED: I’m grateful that we get to go out there and build together the movement that we need to win.GUTIERREZ: El-Sayed was pressed on why it took so long to campaign with her.EL-SAYED: Really asking the questions that the people want to hear. Really, this is about the key things. Why can’t afford my groceries? Why does it take until Sunday to campaign with somebody? Ask me a serious question.(…)FNC’s Special Report with Bret BaierOctober 30, 20266:02:54 PM EasternRICH EDSON: Abdul El-Sayed is about to take the stage in Westland, Michigan, where there is even more party infighting in a race that’s already had plenty of it. Democratic Congressman Hailey Stevens released a statement this morning that said she will, for the first time, campaign with El-Sayed. Now remember, she lost narrowly to El-Sayed in the Democratic primary. She hasn’t campaigned with him yet, but first she’s expecting El-Sayed to condemn this ad that Hasan Piker’s uncle produced, one that blames inflation in Michigan on Israel. Stevens says El-Sayed has made that argument himself and has challenged El-Sayed to get Israel out of his explanation for everything Michigan cannot afford.Also, on a recent podcast, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized El-Sayed’s position on Israel, calling it more than concerning. It’s wrong. Although she did later post that she expects voters to support El-Sayed along with every Democrat running for the United States Senate. El-Sayed has blamed Republicans for, what he says is, inflaming racism on the campaign trail.”(…)