NEW DELHI: With around 50% of troop disengagement completed at Depsang and Demchok in eastern Ladakh by Friday evening, the Indian Army plans to start “coordinated patrolling” with the People’s Liberation Army in the two areas by this month-end, even as talks are underway on other issues like the ‘buffer zones’ created earlier in the high-altitude region.
“The disengagement in Depsang and Demchok will finish by Oct 28-29 if all goes as per the plan finalised by the Indian and Chinese tactical commanders. The coordinated patrolling from the two sides, with prior intimation to each other to avoid face-offs, will then begin after mutual verification,” an Army source said.
The ongoing dismantling of the temporary posts, sheds, tents and other structures and pullback of the rival troops in Depsang and Demchok to pre-April 2020 positions are being closely monitored on the ground as well as through unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and other means.
As part of the confidence-building measures, the two sides will share their “patrolling routines” with each other and limit the number to 15-20 armed soldiers in each patrol.
India’s push for de-escalation along the entire 3,488km line of actual control (LAC) and de-induction of the over 1,00,000 troops forward deployed by each side is still a long way off.
A tactical gain, however, is that the new pact on “patrolling arrangements” at the two remaining face-off sites, first announced by foreign secretary Vikram Misri on Oct 21 after diplomatic and military talks that paved the way for the Modi-Xi meeting, does not include no-patrol buffer zones set up in the earlier rounds of disengagement till Sept 2022.
Those buffer zones at Galwan, north bank of Pangong Tso, the Kailash Range and the larger Gogra-Hot Springs area, varying from 3-km to 10-km, are largely on what India considers to be its own territory.
“We did not want buffer zones at Depsang and Demchok, with their consequent restrictions on patrolling. The resumption of patrolling in the buffer zones is being separately discussed,” another source said.
Under the new pact, the rival troops at Depsang and Demchok will fall back to the positions they held before April 2020, which is when the PLA made multiple well-planned incursions into eastern Ladakh. “The two sides will also patrol the areas they used to patrol till April 2020,” the source said.
Consequently, Chinese troops will no longer block Indian soldiers from going to their traditional patrolling points (PPs) 10, 11, 11A, 12, and 13 at the strategically located Depsang Plains, like they were doing around 18km inside Indian territory in the ‘Bottleneck’ area for the last four-and-a-half years.
Indian troops should also get access to two crucial PPs in the Charding Ninglung Nallah track junction near Demchok, while Indian shepherds will also be able to take their animals to traditional grazing grounds there. It, of course, remains to be seen whether all this will work on the ground.
There are also concerns about whether a “package deal” has been worked out with China that links the new Depsang-Demchok pact with certain “sensitive” areas like Yangtse, Asaphila and Subansiri river valley in Arunachal Pradesh.
Asked about this, an official source said, “The new pact is only about Depsang-Demchok. But talks are going on in all sectors of the LAC.” While the Yangtse plateau in the crucial Tawang sector has for long been a major flashpoint, PLA troops had tried to transgress across the LAC there to unilaterally change status quo, which had led to a major physical clash between the rival troops on Dec 9, 2022, leaving several injured on both sides.
“The disengagement in Depsang and Demchok will finish by Oct 28-29 if all goes as per the plan finalised by the Indian and Chinese tactical commanders. The coordinated patrolling from the two sides, with prior intimation to each other to avoid face-offs, will then begin after mutual verification,” an Army source said.
The ongoing dismantling of the temporary posts, sheds, tents and other structures and pullback of the rival troops in Depsang and Demchok to pre-April 2020 positions are being closely monitored on the ground as well as through unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and other means.
As part of the confidence-building measures, the two sides will share their “patrolling routines” with each other and limit the number to 15-20 armed soldiers in each patrol.
India’s push for de-escalation along the entire 3,488km line of actual control (LAC) and de-induction of the over 1,00,000 troops forward deployed by each side is still a long way off.
A tactical gain, however, is that the new pact on “patrolling arrangements” at the two remaining face-off sites, first announced by foreign secretary Vikram Misri on Oct 21 after diplomatic and military talks that paved the way for the Modi-Xi meeting, does not include no-patrol buffer zones set up in the earlier rounds of disengagement till Sept 2022.
Those buffer zones at Galwan, north bank of Pangong Tso, the Kailash Range and the larger Gogra-Hot Springs area, varying from 3-km to 10-km, are largely on what India considers to be its own territory.
“We did not want buffer zones at Depsang and Demchok, with their consequent restrictions on patrolling. The resumption of patrolling in the buffer zones is being separately discussed,” another source said.
Under the new pact, the rival troops at Depsang and Demchok will fall back to the positions they held before April 2020, which is when the PLA made multiple well-planned incursions into eastern Ladakh. “The two sides will also patrol the areas they used to patrol till April 2020,” the source said.
Consequently, Chinese troops will no longer block Indian soldiers from going to their traditional patrolling points (PPs) 10, 11, 11A, 12, and 13 at the strategically located Depsang Plains, like they were doing around 18km inside Indian territory in the ‘Bottleneck’ area for the last four-and-a-half years.
Indian troops should also get access to two crucial PPs in the Charding Ninglung Nallah track junction near Demchok, while Indian shepherds will also be able to take their animals to traditional grazing grounds there. It, of course, remains to be seen whether all this will work on the ground.
There are also concerns about whether a “package deal” has been worked out with China that links the new Depsang-Demchok pact with certain “sensitive” areas like Yangtse, Asaphila and Subansiri river valley in Arunachal Pradesh.
Asked about this, an official source said, “The new pact is only about Depsang-Demchok. But talks are going on in all sectors of the LAC.” While the Yangtse plateau in the crucial Tawang sector has for long been a major flashpoint, PLA troops had tried to transgress across the LAC there to unilaterally change status quo, which had led to a major physical clash between the rival troops on Dec 9, 2022, leaving several injured on both sides.
You may also like
George Russell crashes into barriers in Mexican GP session and taken to medical centre
Rajasthan HC invokes 'personal liberty', allows man facing departmental inquiry to travel abroad
Gary Neville tips Premier League midfielder to make surprise England return
Bike thieves chase, gun down government officer in Bihar
'I expect more' - Enzo Maresca takes swipe at captain Reece James with Chelsea admission
