China tests air defense system near India border

• China tested an updated short-range surface-to-air defence missile system, carried out by the Xinjiang military command in the “Karakoram plateau region” near the India border.

Highlights

• The footage of the tests, in a high altitude region above 4,500 m, was broadcast on August 15, and “appeared to be HQ-17A air defence missiles, part of an integrated system that can fit in a single vehicle.
• The live-fire drill was broadcast on State channel China Central Television (CCTV) on the morning of August 15 as India marked the 75th anniversary of Independence.
• China’s State media have continued to highlight the PLA’s efforts to improve infrastructure along the western borders and particularly in forward areas close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC), even as the ongoing talks between India and China to resolve the stand-off along the LAC appear to have reached a deadlock.
• The PLA has so far shown little inclination in restoring the status quo prior to its April 2020 transgressions, with talks yet to make headway in the remaining friction areas in Hot Springs, Demchok and Depsang.