India and China agreed to refrain from taking any further military actions that may escalate tensions in eastern Ladakh, but there was no tangible breakthrough in resolving the over-four-month military confrontation during a meeting between India's defence minister Rajnath Singh and his Chinese counterpart, Gen Wei Fenghe, in Moscow on Friday.
In the first such high-level face-to-face political meeting since the face-off erupted in the high-altitude region in early May, Singh categorically told Wei that India will not cede even an inch of its territory and would protect its sovereignty at all costs. Wei, in turn, said the responsibility for the current tensions lies “entirely” with the Indian side.
But amidst all the muscular signalling, the two sides did agree to continue working through diplomatic and military channels to disengage and deescalate along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in consonance with the “consensus” between PM Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping for maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border region.
The defence ministers’ dialogue took place soon after Indian troops thwarted fresh provocative action by China near the south bank of Pangong Tso in the Chushul sector and occupied the tactical heights in the area to outmanoeuvre the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on August 29-30.
At the 140-minute meeting, Singh categorically said the PLA’s “aggressive actions and behaviour” in trying to “unilaterally alter the status quo” violated all bilateral agreements.
According to a Xinhua report, Wei said, “China’s territory cannot be lost, and the Chinese military is fully determined, capable, and confident to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
With winter fast approaching in eastern Ladakh, where thousands of rival troops, tanks, artillery guns and other weapon systems are ranged against each other, both India and China would want a way out of the stalemate though the stakes in terms of perceptions about “stepping back” have risen after the PLA halted the disengagement process.
Gen Wei, a PLA veteran, came to the hotel Singh was staying at and is understood to have mentioned how he has sought discussion on no less than three occasions earlier. In more aggressive commentary, Chinese mouthpiece Global Times on Saturday said: “We must remind the Indian side that China’s national strength, including its military strength, is much stronger than India’s.”
Army, IAF chiefs visit forward areas
China has moved additional forces opposite the Chushul sector in eastern Ladakh after a large number of well-armed Indian troops occupied virtually all the dominating heights from Thakung to Reqin La over the weekend to pre-empt any misadventure by Chinese soldiers. “The situation all along the LAC is tense, with heavy deployments by both sides. But it’s like a tinderbox in eastern Ladakh,” a senior officer said.
With thousands of rival troops, tanks, armoured vehicles and howitzers ranged against each other, Army chief General M M Naravane visited the Chushul sector in eastern Ladakh on Thursday last. Gen Naravane took stock of the situation with Northern Command chief Lt-General Y K Joshi and 14 Corps commander Lt-General Harinder Singh, among others. He also visited some other forward areas to the north in the region on Friday morning before returning to New Delhi. In a parallel development underlining the heightened tensions along the Actual Control (LAC) from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria visited frontline airbases in the eastern sector, including Hashimara, to review military preparedness.
PLA moves additional forces
Wary of any inadvertent incident making things spiral out of control, both India and China are keeping the military lines of communication open. The meeting between rival brigadiers at the Chushul-Moldo border personnel meeting point was held last week. China is seething at the way India conducted the military manoeuvre to occupy multiple heights near the southern bank of Pangong Tso, Spanggur Gap, Rezang La and Reqin La (Renchin mountain pass) at altitudes over 15,000 feet on August 29-30.
“The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was taken by complete surprise. It has moved additional forces opposite the Chushul sector in a show of force. But we are well-entrenched and well-prepared there, as elsewhere in eastern Ladakh,” an army officer said.
India, China accuse each other of firing shots
China and India have accused each other of firing shots on their flashpoint Himalayan border in a further escalation of military tension between the nuclear-armed Asian rivals. The relationship between the two countries has deteriorated since a hand-to-hand combat clash in the Ladakh region on June 15 in which 20 Indian troops were killed.
Experts fear the latest incident will intensify a months-long standoff between the Asian giants that erupted in late April. Beijing's defence ministry accused India of "severe military provocation", saying soldiers crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the western border region and "opened fire to threaten the Chinese border defence patrol officers".
According to the Chinese side, Chinese troops approached the India side for negotiations, and then they say some Indian troops fired at the Chinese side. As a result, China's military said it was forced to take countermeasures - although we don't know what those countermeasures were, or if there were any casualties.
India denies transgression
New Delhi was swift to give its own account, accusing Chinese border forces of "blatantly violating agreements" and firing "a few rounds in the air" to intimidate their Indian rivals. "It is the PLA that has been blatantly violating agreements and carrying out aggressive manoeuvres," the Indian army said in a statement. "Despite the grave provocation, (our) own troops exercised great restraint and behaved in a mature and responsible manner," the statement said.
