Updated: September 17, 2020 7:59:32 am
An IAF plane in Leh on Wednesday amid the protracted standoff between India and China. PTI
Clarifying the situation on the Depsang Plains in Ladakh, where China has been blocking India’s access to four traditional patrol points since April this year, a senior security official told The Indian Express that while this time it did not there has been loss of ground. Around, Indian troops have not had access to much of the territory on their side of the Royal Line of Control for “more than 10 to 15 years.”
The officer also said that apart from regular ceasefire violations and infiltration, no troop mobilization by Pakistan is evident along the Line of Control or near Siachen, located 80 km west of the plains of Depsang. Pakistan, however, has kept a considerable number of Indian troops engaged on the western front, forcing the army to increase its presence in Ladakh with troops from other commandos.
While the focus at the moment is on eastern Ladakh, the Indian military, the officer said, is fully exploiting the possibility that China may attempt to enter elsewhere along the disputed FTA.
Opinion | Our largest image of China
“We hope that China can act anywhere, why speak only of eastern Ladakh. We are also looking at the Eastern Command, ”he said, adding that forces are on alert throughout LAC.
While China withdrew its troops from Patrol Point-14 in Galwan to its LAC side during the withdrawal in early July, a small number of Chinese troops remain on the Indian side of LAC on PP-15 in the area called Hot Springs. . and PP-17A at the nearby Gogra Post. On the north shore of Pangong Tso, Chinese troops never left the Finger 4 ridge line and are within 500 meters of Indian troops where the ridge meets Finger 3.
In the Depsang Plains area, China stationed two brigades and cut off India’s access to PP 10-13. This Chinese denial of access to Indian troops trying to reach their traditional patrol points, the officer said, began a few weeks before the current confrontation. it started.
The Depsang Plains are important not only because they lie 30 km southeast of the strategically important Daulat Beg Oldie outpost, near the Karakoram Pass in the north, but also because, in the middle of mountainous terrain, it offers an area flat that can be used by either of the two. of the two countries to launch a military offensive, similar to the Spanggur Gap in the Chushul subsector.
From Explained | On the border row between India and China, the situation in Ladakh
Bottleneck, a rocky outcrop that provides connectivity across the Depsang Plains, is located about 7 km east of Burtse, where the Indian Army has a base. Burtse is located on the Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldie Road (DSDBO). The track going east from Burtse forks in two at Bottleneck, which is why it is also called the Y-Junction. The north track, following the Raki Nala, goes towards PP10, while the southeast track goes towards PP-13 via Jiwan Nala.
What is also significant is that in the Depsang Plains, where the patrol line is considerably beyond its perception of LAC, India has not been able to reach LAC in the last 15 years. The area that India has not accessed in years is around 972 square kilometers.
“We used to go up to those patrol points, he (the PLA) prevents us from going to the patrol points,” said the officer. “We really haven’t lost anything in this round of matches.”
Read | Pangong’s fingers heat up: fight for the heights as PLA men concentrate on the ridge, India sends more troops
The LAC at Depsang Plains, the officer said, “is well within” the international boundary, and from the LAC “the patrol boundary is even further in.
The area between the Patrol Line and LAC “was already under their control, those 972 square kilometers, they have been theirs,” said the officer, adding that “most of those 972 square kilometers has actually been with them for a long time. time… More than 10 to 15 years, he (PLA) has been there ”.
But this year, Chinese troops began to block Indian troops at Bottleneck, preventing access to PP 10-13. “That’s where he (PLA) stops us today” – it’s the same area where China placed its troops during the 2013 showdown as well.
“He (PLA) has not come and sat permanently in Bottleneck. Whenever we go, he comes and blocks us … blocking each other, a game that has been developing in several areas. We have not lost access. If we want, we can also go tomorrow. But I (the Indian Army) don’t want to create another flash point at this time, ”said the officer.
He said that Indian troops could access patrol boundaries in March, but that the Chinese have blocked access since April. He said that the area that Indian troops are now unable to access between those patrol points is about 10 km vertically and 4-5 km horizontally.
Read | Before the Moscow pact, Indian and Chinese troops fired 100 to 200 rounds on the north bank of Pangong
“Things started to open up (in the summer), we started to resume our patrolling, he started too. Since the roads on his side are better, he gets to a particular place faster, ”said the officer.
China’s claim, he said, is west of Bottleneck, about 2 km inland from Burtse, where India has a base. Indian soldiers have also not allowed Chinese patrols to go beyond Bottleneck.
The Chinese goal, he said, is to try to “push up to their 1959 claim line,” and Indian troops “have stopped them.”
The official said that India has placed an adequate force of troops to prevent China from entering the area.
“China will not only be able to get in. The moment they do, (due to) the forces we have built up, any move will be contested,” he said.
On strengthening India in its positions at the Siachen base, in anticipation of Pakistan’s collusion with China in the event of hostilities, the official said there was no need to do that. Siachen’s positions “have not” been strengthened, he said, “since that is not related to this.”
Read | New tension in eastern Ladakh: army blocks China’s attempts to change the status quo
Earlier this month, the Chief of Defense Staff, Gen. Bipin Rawat, commented that “Pakistan could take advantage of” any military activity from China “and create some problems on the northern border, and therefore we have taken the precautions adequate to ensure that any mishap of Pak is thwarted. “
The officer said that apart from the regular ceasefire violations and infiltrations, India has not seen any mobilization by Pakistan.
“We haven’t seen any hint of mobilization or anything like that, a conventional kind of movement on that side,” he said. “Terrorist launch pads, terrorist infrastructure, terrorist training grounds, they’re still there. Every day, we have a meeting. “To that extent, India, he said, faces two fronts. Indian forces are” tied “with the fight against terrorism and counterinfiltration,” so that way you can say that there is collusion “between China and Pakistan.
And while it is not “planned collusion,” the official said, “Pakistani intelligence has a greater presence in India, compared to China.” The two countries, he said, “will definitely share intelligence” and China “will get to know our movements.”
📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and keep up to date with the latest headlines
For the latest news about India, download the Indian Express app.
.
