With Beijing reiterating its claim on 1,597 kilometers of the Royal Line of Control (LAC) in Ladakh on the basis of the maximalist cartographic claim of November 1959, national security planners believe that the Chinese military can use this claim to pressure the other six areas. differences in the western sector that has not been affected by the current confrontation between the two countries.
The Indian Army has been sensitized to the assessment and is on alert to anticipate any moves by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), people familiar with the matter said.
The 1959 line (defined as the Green Line on military maps) was sent by Prime Minister Zhou En-Lai to his Indian counterpart Jawaharlal Nehru on November 7, 1959, attached to Zhou’s letter to the heads of the countries of Africa and Asia on November 15, 1962..
During the inconclusive western sector clarification and confirmation exercise by expert level group, India and China were found to have 12 areas of difference with significant areas involved. The western sector maps were to be exchanged on June 17, 2002, but the Chinese withdrew at the last minute.
HT Editorial: India must keep guard in LAC after China’s assertion in 1959
According to observers from China, with six of the 12 areas of dispute already in the contest, the PLA may launch an attack on the remaining six points, including Samar Lungpa, Demchok and Chumar, to insist on its claim, which was rejected by the Nehru himself. Therefore, the Indian military commanders have called on the troops to be ready to repel any movement by the PLA before heavy snowfalls take over the stage of the competition in East Ladakh. Polar winds and snow will not only wreak havoc on your men but your gear as well. Artillery guns and tank barrels freeze in such cold conditions. From November 15 to May, the top priority of the two armies will be to survive the cold in the heights.
While both India and China are committed at the military and diplomatic level to withdraw, the PLA commanders of the Western Theater Command only listen to their commander-in-chief Xi Jinping, not the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, as many generals outnumber in rank to minister of foreign affairs in general. -Powerful Central Military Commission (CMC).
The situation on the ground in Ladakh LAC remains tense and the PLA realizes that the Indian army is serious and has the ability and ability to repel any aggression, an official said. PLA soldiers have stopped playing Punjabi songs in the north of Pangong Tso and psychological warfare messages in the south, and Indian soldiers made it clear that any transgression will now invite severe retaliation.
Indian diplomats are unfazed by the claim of the 1959 line and question their predecessors, who thought more about not crossing the Chinese red lines in LAC than defending the Indian claim of LAC.
“The Ladakh showdown is the result of a 30-year differential between India and China in the race for infrastructure. China became Shanghai and India remained Mumbai. It is not good English, but a solid infrastructure and military that will force China to come to the table, ”said a serving diplomat.
The 1959 Chinese claim is as absurd as India claims part of Tibet on the basis of the ruler Dogra of Jammu, the 1841 Tibet campaign of General Zorawar Singh Kahluria of Raja Gulab Singh to occupy parts of Ngari prefecture in Tibet , He said.
.
