Xi Jinping tells Chinese military to prepare for war. Is it against India, US or Taiwan?

Howsoever unusual it may sound, Chinese President Xi Jinping has asked its People's Liberation Army (PLA) to prepare for war even though the Covid-19 threat is not clearly over.

Xi Jinping, as quoted by state news agency Xinhua, said, "It is necessary to explore ways of training and preparing for war because epidemic control efforts have been normalized."

"It is necessary to step up preparations for armed combat, to flexibly carry out actual combat military training, and to improve our military's ability to perform military missions," said Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the week-long sitting of the National People's Congress (NPC), the national parliament of China.

This follows a decision to increase the budget for the Chinese military by $178 billion -- or 6.6 percent -- over last year's allocation.

Xi Jinping's direction to the Chinese military to be battle-ready has come at a time when tension is growing between India and China in Ladakh and Sikkim sectors, and also at the Lipulekh tri-junction with Nepal.

China is understood to have played a role in the recent assertion by Nepal over Lipulekh, Kalapani and Lipiyadhura areas of Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand.

The situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh is tense. Indian and Chinese soldiers are locked in an eyeball-to-eyeball face-off in Galway Valley, Pangong Tso, Demchok, and Daulat Beg Oldie.

The tension began on May 5, when around 250 soldiers from the Indian and Chinese sides engaged in a face-off. Over two days, some 100 soldiers from both sides received injuries.

Reports also suggested that the Chinese had "detained" some Indian soldiers for a few hours. The two sides agreed to disengage after a meeting between local commanders.

China has opposed Indian construction on its side of the LAC, calling it a violation of the agreement to maintain the status quo in the region until the boundary question is settled. China claims parts of Ladakh as its own territory. It occupied Aksai Chin during the 1962 war and has refused to vacate it since.

China has been posturing aggressively since Ladakh was granted Union Territory status in 2019 following the reorganization of Jammu and Kashmir.

India is undertaking road construction and infrastructure building activities in villages near the LAC as development work as well as to boost its strategic position. China has already built heavy infrastructure on the other side of the LAC.