LAC conundrum at 2 key points resolved
India and China have achieved a breakthrough in negotiations to resolve their stand-off in Depsang Plains and Demchok.
India and China have achieved a breakthrough in negotiations to resolve their stand-off in Depsang Plains and Demchok, the two remaining flashpoints in eastern Ladakh where the two armies have been eyeball-to-eyeball for almost four-and-a-half years, with external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Monday announcing that the disengagement process with China has been completed “and we have gone back to where the situation was in 2020”.
The disengagement is expected to lead to de-escalation of lingering conflict in the sensitive theatre and the eventual de-induction of rival soldiers through further talks, HT learns.
Jaishankar’s remarks came shortly after foreign secretary Vikram Misri told a news conference that the two countries have arrived at an agreement on “patrolling arrangements” along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the India-China border areas, “leading to disengagement and a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020”.
This means the Indian Army will be able to resume its patrolling activity in areas that had been cut off because of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) forward presence in Depsang and Demchok, officials aware of the matter said, asking not to be named.
The development will allow the army and PLA get past a two-year impasse in negotiations to narrow down differences and find a resolution of outstanding issues along LAC –– the fourth and last round of disengagement from Patrolling Point-15 in the Gogra-Hot Springs area took place in September 2022 after which the talks were deadlocked.
The details of the patrolling arrangements that have been formulated are still sketchy, but it’s a big breakthrough as the impasse in negotiations has been broken, said former Northern Army commander Lieutenant General DS Hooda (retd).
“Since we are talking about an agreement on patrolling arrangements, we will now have access to areas we could not visit earlier. It’s a positive development,” he said.
India made the announcement on the 62nd anniversary of the 1962 war with China which began on October 20.
The talks thus far resulted in four rounds of disengagement from Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso, Gogra (PP-17A) and Hot Springs (PP-15), areas where so-called buffer zones (extending up to 4km) were created to temporarily restrict the patrolling activities of both armies in the region. The zones of separation were aimed at eliminating the possibility of violent face-offs.
The moratorium on patrolling these areas by both sides is also expected to be lifted as the government has said the two sides have gone back to where the situation was in 2020, the officials said. To be sure, both armies still have tens of thousands of troops each and advanced weaponry deployed in the Ladakh theatre.
On October 1, army chief General Upendra Dwivedi described the situation along the contested LAC in eastern Ladakh as “stable but sensitive,” pointing out that trust between the Indian Army and PLA was “the biggest casualty” of the military standoff. Positive signalling is coming from the diplomatic side but military commanders on both sides have to execute the options on the ground to take things forward, he said.
“What we must understand is that the diplomatic side gives you options and possibilities. But when it comes to execution on the ground, it is dependent on the military commanders on both sides to take those decisions.”
The Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China border affairs met in Beijing on August 29 for the 17th time since the start of the face-off on in May 2020. The two armies have thus far held 21 rounds of corps commander-level talks to cool tensions along LAC with the aim of restoring the status quo ante of April 2020.
“What are we wanting? We want the situation that was there pre-April 2020 to be restored, whether it is the ground occupation situation, buffer zones or patrolling. Till the time that situation is not restored, as far as we are concerned, we are fully operationally ready for any contingency,” the army chief said then.
Going by what Jaishankar said (that the disengagement has been completed and the situation of 2020 restored), it appears that goal has been achieved.
The government did not give out details of the latest disengagement.
This is usually a complicated process that involves rigourous verification to monitor the joint withdrawal of troops from friction points. The disengagement effort involves rival troops pulling back a specified distance from face-off sites, with further retreat taking place in phases as the complex plan progresses on a verifiable basis on the ground by both sides. It also entails the phased withdrawal of weapons and equipment to a mutually agreed distance, and finally the restoration of status quo ante (early April 2020).
In the past, the verification process has involved the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, other aerial means of surveillance and satellite imagery of the areas.
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