evidence: Chinese claims over Arunachal Pradesh have grown substantially over the past couple of decades. In the mid-1980s, Beijing only laid claims over a region called Tawang, but in the 2000s it started claiming all of Arunachal Pradesh as ‘South Tibet’. India has recognised China’s use of ‘salami-slicing’ tactics to increase its territorial claims, which over time change the status quo in an area. But New Delhi has assessed that Beijing doesn’t want to escalate tensions over Arunachal Pradesh and will likely limit its response to the latest Indian initiatives to lodging routine diplomatic protests and perhaps engaging in minor skirmishes along the boundary (like the stone-pelting incident between Indian and Chinese soldiers on the border with Chinese-occupied Kashmir in August 2017). Last year, a Chinese civilian road-building team entered Arunachal Pradesh and was forced to return after a minor faceoff with Indian army personnel. It appears that India has calculated that China wouldn’t risk an active confrontation over Arunachal Pradesh, given the difficulty in navigating the mountainous terrain in the region and, more significantly, the priority China places on its interests in Taiwan and the South and East China seas.