After a nine month lengthy standoff involving the Indian and Chinese armies along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, there was a main breakthrough on Wednesday.
The Defence Ministry of China on Wednesday announced that the troops each nations on the southern and northern shores of Pangong Tso had began the “synchronized and organized disengagement”. And that this initially step in the procedure of disengagement was in line with the consensus that was reached in the course of discussions final month on January 24 involving the Corps Commanders of each sides.
On Thursday, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh created a detailed statement in Rajya Sabha on the “situation in eastern Ladakh.’
What is the disengagement plan?
The process of the disengagement is restricted to the north and south banks of Pangong Tso.
What does it mean?
According to sources, certain columns of tanks have started pulling back from the South Bank area by the forces of both sides. The Indian Army late Thursday released a video and photos showing the pulling out of T 99 tanks from the said area.
However, the troops of both sides have yet to pullback from the friction points and the heights they are positioned on.
The pullback of the troops has to be in a phased manner and to be verified. And towards this end the Commanders of both sides since earlier this week have started discussing the plans for the troop’s pullout.
What did Defence Minister Rajnath Singh say in Rajya Sabha about the plan?
As reported earlier, the minister informed the House that the two sides will remove the forward deployment in a “phased, coordinated and verified manner.’’
According to him, “While the Chinese side will pull its troops on the north bank towards the east of Finger 8, India also will position its forces at its permanent base at the Dhan Singh Thapa post near Finger 3.”
Both sides will take related actions on the south Bank location also.
Till each sides attain an agreement by way of diplomatic as effectively as military discussions, there will be no patrolling involving Finger 3 and Finger 8.
Also, the two sides have agreed to take away the building completed on the north and south banks of the lake given that April 2020. This indicates that this will restore the circumstance to ahead of the standoff of final year.
Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defence had mentioned in a written statement that the troops of each sides have began synchronized and organized disengagement at the southern and northern bank of the Pangong Tso Lake.
And, this according to the Chinese statement was in accordance with the accordance with the consensus reached by each sides at the 9th round of China-India Corps Commander Level Meeting.
So what does this imply?
As of now the procedure of disengagement will be restricted to the north and south banks of Pangong Tso.
It indicates now the Indian and Chinese troops will move back to their conventional bases on the north bank. This indicates India will move back to its conventional base at the Dhan Singh Thapa Post, which is west of Finger 3, and China has had its base east of Finger 8.
Importance of the north and south banks
This is the location exactly where the clashes began in May 2020, along the shores of the lake. This is the location exactly where the Chinese troops had come in about nearly 8 km deep west of India’s perception of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).At that time the Chinese troops had positioned its troops on the ridgeline connecting Fingers 3 and 4. And India says the LAC passes by way of Finger 8.
What occurred final August?
Late August 2020, Indian forces had managed to acquire strategic benefit when it had occupied particular peaks on the south bank of the lake.
In a surprise move at that time, the Indian troops had positioned themselves on heights of Rezang La, Rechin La, Magar Hill, Mukhpari, and Gurung Hill. These had been not occupied by either side at the time.
After becoming taken by surprise, the Chinese side has been really sensitive.
Why?
Because these positions permitted India to dominate Spanggur Gap, which is a two-km wide valley. And this can be utilized for launching an offensive, just as the Chinese had completed in 1962. Another explanation is that India gets a direct view of the Chinese Moldo Garrison.
After effectively positioning themselves at these heights, India also had re-positioned its troops on the north bank to occupy heights which had been overlooking Chinese positions on the north bank as effectively.
And according to reports, at that time warning shots had been fired more than after. And the troops from each sides on several of these heights had been sitting a couple of meters apart.
While India has been demanding that the disengagement procedure need to include things like complete area and go back to their April 2020 positions, China has been insisting that India initially pull its troops back from the south bank of Pangong Tso, and the Chushul sub-sector.
The disengagement procedure which began Wednesday, February 10, 2020 is from the Pangong Tso location only.
And this does not imply that the standoff involving the two armies is more than.
As the defence minister Rajnath Singh had described in his statement, there are nevertheless some outstanding challenges connected to the deployment and patrolling on LAC. And these he had mentioned will be raised in the course of additional discussions.
Disengagement on the friction locations
In his statement the minister mentioned, “India is of the view that the forward deployments of 2020 which are very close to each other should be pulled back and both the armies should return to their permanent and recognised posts”.
While the two sides have agreed to total the procedure of disengagement based on the bilateral agreements and protocols, the minister stated, “After the talks so far, China is also aware of our resolve to protect the sovereignty of the country. It is our expectation that China will work with us seriously to resolve the remaining issues.”
Is Pangong Tso the only location of friction?
No. It is just one of the locations. There are other friction points north of the Pangong Tso, exactly where the troops have been face to face given that final year.
As reported by TheSpuzz Online earlier, the Chinese troops had crossed the LAC in 4 other components final year which incorporated Gogra Post at Patrolling Point 17A (PP17A) and Hot Springs location close to PP15. These two are close to every single other and then the third point was PP14 in Galwan Valley. This was the spot exactly where soon after a main clash involving the troops of each nations, lives of 20 Indian soldiers had been lost. And an undeclared quantity of Chinese troops had been killed.
And the fourth location which is regarded as to be most sensitive is the Depsang Plains. This unique sensitive location is close to India’s strategic Daulat Beg Oldie base, close to the Karakoram Pass in the north.
What is the present circumstance in Depsang Plains?
The Chinese who have consistently patrolled till the bottleneck, has blocked Indian troops from moving east to their patrolling limits.
This indicates that the Indian troops are not in a position to attain their conventional patrolling limits at PP10, PP11, PP11A, PP12 and PP13.
The bottleneck is about 18 kms west of the LAC, and lies just 30 km southeast of Daulat Beg Oldie.
Why is there no permanent resolution but?
Because there is lack of trust and there is no clarity on the intent.
And for getting a permanent resolution, the procedure is longer. This indicates, that the troops will have to be disengaged from the frontlines of all the friction points. This will have to be followed by sending troops from the depths to their conventional bases. Presently there are 50,000 troops from each sides supported by heavy artillery, air defence assets as effectively as heavy armoured autos.