Even as India and China discuss the removal of the sticking points in Ladakh in diplomatic and military talks, the People’s Liberation Army is building new structures and relocating troops and equipment in occupied Aksai Chin in Tibet and Xinjiang with no intention of backing down. on the 1,597 km Line of Current Control (LAC) in Ladakh at least this winter.
Senior military officials said they had noticed the construction of a huge structure spread over 3 lakh square feet, almost the size of four football fields, about 10 kilometers from LAC in occupied Aksai Chin in the Gogra-Hot Springs area. . A new deployment of camouflaged vehicles and equipment has been collected in Xinjiang, 82 kilometers from LAC.
The Indian side has also detected the relocation of troops and equipment around a PLA camp 92 kilometers within Aksai Chin and the movement of a large number of PLA vehicles in the Tibet region through Demchok of Ladakh. It is also very clear that PLA intelligence is observing the Galwan region and Kongka La area from positions 8 to 20 km from LAC in Aksai Chin.
The PLA is building a new highway between Hotan and Kanxiwar in Xinjiang, some 166 km from the India-China border to provide an alternative route to Aksai Chin for troops and equipment. Chinese air supplies for the LAC engagement are being dropped off at the Hotan airbase, 320 km from LAC in a straight line, via Y-20 aircraft, widely recognized as a copy of the Russian IL-76 transport aircraft.
PLA activity is not limited to Ladakh. Some 60 km from LAC in Arunachal Pradesh, people familiar with the matter said, counterspace jammers had been deployed to ensure that an adversary would not detect PLA activity via satellites. The PLA is understood to have deployed Russian S-400 missile systems in deep areas around the city of Nyingchi in Arunachal Pradesh to deal with any air threats.
The net assessment of the PLA’s stance is that China is consolidating its positions with bases and storage depots being established in Golmud, which is connected to Lhasa via trains with a dual-use airport used for civil and military purposes in Qinghai province.
While Beijing says it is committed to the disengagement and de-escalation of the Ladakh LAC as agreed by Foreign Ministers S Jaishankar and Wang Yi in Moscow on September 10, the PLA appears to show no signs or desire to adhere to the compromise.
As a result of China’s reluctance to step back, the Indian Army has been on the alert with its troops proactively patrolling within its boundaries with the XIV Corps Command taken over by Lieutenant General PGK Menon of the Sikh Regiment. With snow set to fall at contested spots in Gorga-Hot Springs, North and South Pangong Tso, it will be a long winter for deployed troops.
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