Ajay Banerjee  

Finger area in Pangong Tso, Depsang remain key points of contention

With China adamant about not honouring the agreement on the de-escalation schedule and disengagement of troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, the outcome of Sunday meeting between Lt General-level officers of India and China could set the tone for the future posturing along the LAC.

In another six-seven weeks, night temperatures will be below freezing at these altitudes. Both sides are already moving infrastructure like pre-fabricated structures to house additional troops in areas between 14,000 and 16,000 feet.

The meeting of Lt General-level officers, the fifth such engagement since June 6, was held to plan and implement a joint schedule for the de-escalation. The last meeting on July 15 could not break the impasse. India sees this is as an attempt by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to change the status quo of the LAC and no further progress can be made till Chinese troops move back. The meeting commenced at 11 am and continued late into the night.

The PLA has not honoured the disengagement plan so far. Troops have not moved back from Finger-4 on the north of Pangong Tso, a 135-km glacial lake. They have advanced up to the same point that they had reached during the 1962 war. After the war, they had withdrawn till Finger-8, eastwards from the present location. Since 1962, the Indian Army has been patrolling till Finger-8. The PLA move this summer has blocked Indian patrol parties. The area between Finger-4 and Finger-8 was a ‘grey zone’ till April-end, both sides refrained from making any structures.

The other point of contention is the Depsang plains. Some 5,000 men, tanks and guns have been stationed at a place called “Bottleneck”, which is 25 km southeast of the strategic airfield in Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) located at 16,700 feet. The DBO is just 20 km south of the 18,176-foot-high Karakoram pass, which divides Ladakh and Xinjiang in China.

Since the last meeting of the Commanders, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had visited Ladakh on July 17. Making an assessment of the India-China standoff, he had said the matter should be resolved but there was no “guarantee” to what extent it would be resolved. A few days later he advised the IAF to be ready for any eventuality.

Fifth round of talks

Fresh round of talks on Sunday aimed to ensure expeditious disengagement of troops from all friction points along LAC in eastern Ladakh

It was the fifth round of corps commander-level talks in nearly two months

The meeting started at 11 am in Moldo on the Chinese side

What India wants

Total withdrawal of PLA troops from areas between Finger-4 and 8 in Pangong Tso.

Completion of disengagement at a few other points

Courtesy: Daily Tribune:  3rd August, 2020