It should come as no surprise to anyone that the pre-industrial age-type clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in Ladakh would be welcome news to the hard military men in Pakistan. As far as nuclear-armed Pakistan is concerned, any military pain – which nuclear-armed China can inflict on Islamabad’s Number One Enemy, India, the third nuclear-armed country in the neighbourhood – is very good news indeed.
I stress the nuclear-armed capability of the three countries not because I believe nuclear arms are about to be used, but to make the point that, whilst this is a clash still at a very low level, these are very heavily-armed countries which have the ability to inflict great damage to one another if these border differences are not managed properly.