All eyes are now on the talks on Saturday between senior military commanders of India and China on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to defuse nearly month-long multiple face-offs in Eastern Ladakh. India is firm on mutual and simultaneous pullback of soldiers from the flashpoints and an assurance from China to stop disrupting construction activities like roads and infrastructure development near the LAC.
The talks will be held between Leh-based 14 Corps chief Lt General Harinder and his Chinese counterpart in Chushul-Moldo. It is a mutually-agreed Border Personnel Meeting between the two countries to resolve such contentious issues. The Indian commander will cross over the LAC to meet the Chinese senior commander.
This level of talks will take place after seven earlier meetings between local commanders of two sides failed to break the deadlock in the last one fortnight. At present, the two armies are in a stand-off at four points in Eastern Ladakh. The frontage is between 20 and 30 km but in small pockets where soldiers are in an eyeball to eyeball confrontation, sources said here on Friday.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, while admitting that China had sizably increased its troop strength on the LAC during the stand-offs, said two days back he was hopeful the talks at the Lt General level will pave the way for peaceful resolution of the ongoing dispute.
As regards India’s likely stance during the talks, sources said India will call for mutual withdrawal in a time-bound manner, pulling back troops to mutually agreed positions, pulling back heavy artillery and armoured vehicles from face off sites including the Galwan valley, Pangong Tso(lake) and Hot Springs. The Chinese army intruded more than three km into the Hot Springs, pitched tents, and also constructed bunkers and barracks.
Moreover, the Chinese brought in more troops at all the ongoing face-off points triggering reciprocal action by India. In order to meet any eventuality, all the advanced landing grounds(ALG)in Ladakh are also on full alert and geared to handle increased landing and take-off of transport planes bringing in more soldiers and logistical support, officials said. At present, there are more than 5,000 Chinese troops at the face-off sites.
During the talks, India is also likely to underline unwarranted Chinese aggressiveness at the LAC now and its rather tough stance in the ‘Finger 1 to 8’ areas (mountainous spurs) running west to east on the Pangong Tso.
Elaborating upon this issue, sources said the Indian forces patrolled up to Finger 8 area. However, since early May, the Chinese have objected to it. Also, the Chinese undertook construction activities including a new blacktop road. India wants China to pull back its troops from that area.
Determined to continue with its ramped up efforts to build infrastructure, including roads, bridges, and airfields in the strategically important Ladakh region, the Indian delegation will also insist on an assurance that China will stop objecting to these construction activities. At present, in the Galwan valley, the Chinese patrols have obstructed the construction of a bridge on 250-km long Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldie road on the Indian side of the LAC.
In the run-up to the high-level talks, Northern Command chief Lt General Y K Joshi visited Leh on Wednesday and reviewed the situation with Lt General Singh. Army Chief General M M Naravane had visited Leh about a fortnight back to take stock of the situation. The groundwork for the Lt General level parleys was done during the Major General level talks between the two sides on Tuesday, sources said.
Besides military talks, hectic diplomatic efforts at various layers were also on to resolve the issue. The defence Minister in an interview with private television channels earlier this week was hopeful of peaceful resolution following Saturday talks.
As infrastructure all along the LAC has vastly improved in both the countries, troops increase patrolling especially during the summer months. The Indian security establishment is now wary of the growing Chinese aggressiveness during the ongoing face-offs and is prepared for any challenge, sources said.
In order to address such face-offs, India and China had agreed some years back to have a hotline between the director generals of military operations (DGMO) on the lines of an existing mechanism between India and Pakistan.
However, the proposed hotline is held up due to procedural differences. In January this year, the Army Chief had said all issues have been resolved and the procedural aspects have been ironed out. He said the hotline would be between the DGMO from India and China’s Western Theatre Command.
