Indian and Chinese military commanders will meet in Ladakh on October 12 for their seventh round of talks to reduce friction in the sector, but the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) shows no signs of disengagement, deploying solar-heated troops and gas. snow containers and tents on the ridges to defend their positions in the Line of Current Control (LAC)
According to government officials with knowledge of the situation, the PLA has been dug over the winter, with each container accommodating between four and six soldiers, and with new hospital facilities in deep areas to care for those suffering from the height or height. -Altitude pulmonary edema.
While the Indian side believes that comprehensive withdrawal and de-escalation will require multiple rounds of military and diplomatic dialogue, PLA commanders have complicated the withdrawal by insisting that the Indian army withdraw first from the southern bank of Pangong Tso and Rezang La -Rechin La Ridgeline before the Chinese Army returns from the Finger Four Spur on the north shore of the saltwater lake.
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While the PLA has transgressed the Indian perception of LAC on the north bank, the Indian army stands firm in its perception of LAC on the southern bank of the Pangong Tso. The Chinese, from their point of view, believe that India has transgressed their perception of LAC south of Pangong Tso.
Indian military commanders say the PLA should first withdraw from the Finger Four spur on the north shore and reestablish the status quo ante by returning to the Finger Eight, as was the case in April 2020. According to them, since the Chinese unilaterally changed the state for the first time. on the north shore, they should retreat first and establish trust. Since the PLA has a path to their posts in LAC, they will occupy positions in the Rezang La -Rechin La mountain range the moment Indian troops withdraw from their current positions on the southern bank. The Indian army occupied these positions on the southern bank through military exercises on August 29-30, anticipating the PLA’s planned aggression.
With the disconnection on the north and south shores locked to a standstill, it has also stopped in the Gogra-Hot Springs area north of the lake, and the PLA continues its efforts to block patrols in the Depsang Bulge area. This has alerted the Indian army to a possible Chinese move to transgress the Indian side of LAC before the snowfall begins after October 15.
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Although the activity of the PLA Air Force is reduced in the area, its troops are deployed in full force in occupied Aksai Chin and areas deep down to Lhasa and Chengdu. The Indian Army and Air Force remain on high alert with a similar force of troops and support systems.
“If China is looking for an incentive from India to disconnect from Ladakh, then it will have to wait for another time. LAC’s status was unilaterally changed at the instructions of the PLA Commander-in-Chief Xi Jinping. It is he who has to restore the status quo ante, ”said a senior South Block official who did not want to be named.
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