India again asks China to withdraw troops from friction points

INTERNATIONAL DESK: India on Sunday once again asked China to withdraw its forward deployed troops and tents at two friction points in eastern Ladakh, while also seeking restoration of patrolling rights at the third and the biggest stand-off area of the strategically located Depsang Plains region.

India also pressed China to desist from flying fighter jets close to the friction points during the 16th round of top military talks, led by the Leh-based 14 Corps commander Lt-General Anindya Sengupta and South Xinjiang Military District chief Major General Yang Lin, on Sunday.

There was no official word on the outcome of the marathon meeting held on the Indian side of the Chushul Moldo border meeting point, which began at 9.30 am and ended around 10 pm.

“From our side, all the three ongoing stand-offs, at Patrolling Point-15 (PP-15) near the Kugrang Nallah in the Chang Chenmo sector, Charding Ninglung Nallah (CNN) track junction at Demchok and the important Depsang Bulge area, were put on the table since the corps commander-level talks were taking place a gap of over four months,” a source said.

China’s obdurate stance on restoration of the status quo in eastern Ladakh as it existed in April-May 2020, along with its relentless military infrastructure build-up along the Line of Actual Control, was evident in the way one of its fighter jets flew over Indian troop positions at a friction point on June 28. The breach of the no-fly zone convention led IAF to scramble its own jets, as was reported by TOI.

Indian security and defence establishment sources on Sunday were nevertheless “optimistic” about “possible forward movement” in completing the stalled troop disengagement at PP-15, about 30-km to the north of Gogra, because the groundwork for it was laid during the 12th round of corps commander-level talks in July last year.

“There are just 40-50 soldiers from the two sides at the actual face-off site, though there are many more in the immediate depth areas,” a source said.

Similarly, the pitching of additional Chinese tents on the Indian side near the Charding Ninglung Nallah (CNN) track junction at Demchok is not considered too intractable to resolve.

The big concern remains the major encroachment by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the Depsang Bulge, a table-top plateau located at an altitude of 16,000-feet towards the crucial Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) and Karakoram Pass in the north.

The PLA has been actively blocking Indian soldiers in Depsang, around 18-km inside what India considers its own territory, from even going to their traditional PPs-10, 11, 12, 12A and 13 in the area since April-May 2020. The face-off has led the two armies to deploy additional infantry brigades and tank regiments in the region.

“Depsang can be resolved only through top political intervention,” he added.

With China as yet showing no intent to carry out the overall process of disengagement, de-escalation and de-induction to defuse the over two-year-long military confrontation, India too has pumped in thousands of soldiers along with heavy weaponry like howitzers, tanks, infantry combat vehicles, surface-to-air missile systems into eastern Ladakh.

“We have used the crisis to build our capabilities in terms of troops, weaponry and infrastructure in the high-altitude region. If the PLA decides to stay forward deployed, so shall we. The overall bilateral relationship will continue to suffer if this border issue is not resolved,” a senior officer said. (The Times of India)