Diplomatic and military talks between India and China to resolve the Ladakh standoff remain confidential, but HT learns that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has reversed the disengagement and then de-escalation formulation by proposing that tanks and The artillery bracket must withdraw from each other first to avoid vertical climbing in the event of an accident.
India’s position, on the other hand, is that there should be a complete withdrawal of troops through a gradual withdrawal, a verification process and then a de-escalation. Disengagement, New Delhi has maintained, should involve troops returning to their pre-April 2020 positions along the 1,597 km Royal Line of Control (LAC) in Ladakh. Once this happens, the de-escalation can continue.
Experts say that in purely military terms, reducing artillery and tank support from friction points does not work in favor of the Indian Army, as the PLA has built roads to match Beijing’s perception of LAC. and it has the ability and ability to deploy much faster than Indian armor.
According to senior officials, the Indian army will have to remain deployed in the heights of East Ladakh during the winter, until the PLA decides in favor of withdrawal and the restoration of the status quo ante. “The Indian Army has been trained in high altitude deployments and will be on guard until the situation is mutually resolved. India’s position is comfortable and well defended, ”said a senior official on condition of anonymity.
While the PLA has arrived at its perception of the LAC on the northern shores of Pangong Tso and Gogra-Hot Springs, the Indian Army has arrived at its perception of the LAC on the south shore of the high-altitude salt lake with troops sitting on the Rezang La-Rechin La mountain range.
India’s national security planners are debating how the tense situation will play out in the future. One school of thought is that the PLA will try to placate India through talks until the November 3 US presidential election, but will then escalate hostilities throughout LAC’s 3488 km if President Trump does not return to the White House. . Basically this means that at the moment, China is focused on the US moves with respect to Taiwan and will focus on India after the result of the US presidential election.
The other school of thought is that the PLA’s aggression against LAC has nothing to do with the US presidential elections, since the friction started in Galwan-Gogra-Hot Springs in April, when the US elections were not even in the horizon. People believe that the PLA movement in LAC aims to restore the November 7, 1959 line and punish India for publishing the map of Ladakh on November 2, 2019. The aggression has in part to do with the internal situation. in China with the spread of the coronavirus from Wuhan, the resulting shock to the economy, and the resulting political ferment. While China’s domestic political situation is expected to ease rather than exacerbate, the pressure on LAC will continue in the future.
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