After several rounds of military and diplomatic talks, India and China have kicked off step-wise disengagement from the two-month long confrontation in Galwan Valley and Gogra-Hot Springs areas of eastern Ladakh, with People’s Liberation Army soldiers also moving back slightly from the seemingly intractable face-off site at Pangong Tso.
Chinese soldiers “have removed some tents and seem to be pulling back” towards ‘Finger-5’ (fingers are mountainous spurs) from ‘Finger-4’ on the north bank of Pangong lake, in accordance with Phase-I of the de-escalation plan thrashed out between the rival corps commanders on June 30, top government sources said. This is significant as the confrontation here is seen to be particularly sticky to resolve.
The developments came after a two-hour discussion between India's national security advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese state councillor and foreign minister Wang Yi on Sunday. The sometimes tense conversation ended with the two sides agreeing to disengage. Importantly, the Chinese troops have moved back from their current positions which India has held to be violative of agreements between the two countries.
In the course of the conversation on Sunday, Doval bluntly put across New Delhi's bottomline that for the de-escalation to happen, the PLA must move back from the area which Beijing had publicly claimed as its own in the aftermath of the violent confrontation between the two armies on June 15. India has said China violated the agreements intended to ensure peace on the borders.
This is the second time after the 73-day-long face-off at Doklam in 2017 that India had got China to relent - at least as things stand now - after negotiations in which India was represented by the NSA. Yet, the two situations are hardly comparable.
Unlike Doklam, the latest conflict saw fatalities on both sides. This must have been particularly problematic for China, considering that it was the first time since 1979, when the Vietnamese got the better of it, that PLA had suffered casualties. Moreover, if the idea was to give India a hard rap on the wrist, it didn't go to plan as China suffered casualties it is yet to admit in public. US sources put this at 35 dead. India lost 20 men, including commanding officer Col Santhosh Babu.
Unlike in 2017 where India tried to play down the physical skirmishes between the two sides with the government preferring to endure digs from opponents back home, the latest round saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighting the bravery and courage of Indian jawans and, in the process, rubbing in the PLA losses.
The statements could not have sounded bluster to the Chinese after the defiant completion of a bridge over the Galwan river, part of the Modi government’s project to ramp up border infrastructure.
Doval, Wang finalise plan
The breakthrough in India’s attempts to get Beijing to pull back its troops in Galwan Valley came after two hours of tense negotiations between Doval and China's Wang Yi. Sources said what the MEA described as a “frank and in depth interaction” was marked by sharp exchanges before the two sides settled for an understanding which will require the PLA to reduce its presence, pull back and bring down the structures it had raised during the stand-off. Doval and Wang, who are special representatives for border talks, have known each other for some time and this helped them focus on the nub of the matter straightaway.
‘Buffer zone’ created at ‘PP-14’ in Galwan Valley region
A‘buffer zone’ has already been created at ‘Patrolling Point-14 (PP-14) in the Galwan Valley region, the site of bloody clashes on June 15, while similar arrangements are underway at the other ‘friction points’ of PP-15 and 17A in the general Gogra-Hot Springs area.
“The PLA has removed its tents and temporary structures at PP-14 to pull back around 300 troops and several vehicles by about 1.5 km to their side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC),” said a high-level military source.
But India is being extremely cautious this time, and will verify each step with physical monitoring on the ground as well as through drones and satellites. “A close watch has to be kept to ascertain if genuine and lasting disengagement is finally underway. China, after all, has taken to claiming the entire Galwan Valley in recent days,” said the source. India has consistently said its troops are aware of the LAC alignment and China must restore the status quo as it existed before the build-up of tensions.
The setting up of the no military presence buffer zones at all flashpoints in the high-altitude region, depending on the terrain and mountain features in each area, will mark the completion of Phase-I of the proposed de-escalation.
There will then be a ‘stabilisation period’ of three to four weeks for each side to monitor the progress and resolve any lingering issues through more meetings to bridge the huge trust deficit between the two armies. “PLA is adhering to Phase-I so far. It will be a longdrawn process in several phases, with the Chinese presence in the Depsang Plains being taken up later,” said a senior official in the defence establishment.
“Further diplomatic and military talks will be held for the eventual de-induction of the rival military build-ups along the LAC. If everything goes well, the final de-induction should take place by September-October,” he added.
