New Delhi, Oct. 25 -- After a brief interlude, the Line of Actual Control (LAC) - the de facto boundary between Indian and Chinese-controlled territory - is once again in focus.

During the 1970s and 1980s, China was a poor nation - far poorer than it is today. Yet even then, I can say from personal experience, it was well ahead of India in infrastructure and military deployment along the LAC. India, too, has made considerable progress since the 1980s. However, in terms of infrastructure parity, we are not there yet.

Over the past couple of decades, as China's economic and military capabilities have grown, it has increasingly sought to alter the status quo along the disputed border. How successful these attempts have been is debatable. B...