New Delhi (NVI): With the ‘no-war, no-peace’ status prevailing on the Eastern Ladakh border, the situation on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China in that sector has now become similar to that of the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan, where troops are in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation all the time.
It is already eight months since mobilisation of troops began in the Eastern Ladakh sector, with China launching military aggression and prompting India to make the mirror deployment of forces to prevent any unilateral change in the LAC. And it seems the same situation is going to continue as there is no resolution in sight even as harsh winter has set in.
The situation on the LAC in the mountainous Eastern Ladakh sector is now similar to the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir where troops are deployed all the time on mountain peaks, in high alert. According to estimates, there are around 50,000 troops deployed on both sides of the LAC, along with assets like fighter planes and artillery guns.
Till May, the LAC had a different character, with the agreements between India and China mandating that the troops would not be in a face-to-face deployment and soldiers of the either side could patrol up to certain points and return to pre-determined positions.
However, that changed after Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) launched military aggression in a bid to alter the LAC.
There have been eight rounds of talks between India and China at the level of military commanders, besides meetings and discussions at the levels of Defence Minister, External Affairs Minister and National Security Adviser, to resolve the matter but it has not yielded any results so far.
Joint statements issued after the talks have mentioned about agreement to undertake disengagement. A joint statement issued after the eighth round of military commanders’ meeting held on November 6 said the two sides had “candid, in-depth and constructive exchange of views” on disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the western sector of India-China border areas.
Committing to hold the next round of meeting soon, both sides had agreed to maintain dialogue and communication through military and diplomatic channels and taking forward the discussions to push for the settlement of other outstanding issues.
But there has been no progress on the ground and the stalemate continues. The matter is deadlocked over the issue of withdrawal of troops.
According to people in the know, the deadlock persists because China is refusing to withdraw its troops and restore the pre-May status. It wants India to pull back its troops from the friction points first. But India asserts that China should take the lead in pulling back since it had moved its troops forward first.
In view of the deadlock, it is going to be a long haul before the disengagement, if any, takes place.
Meanwhile, the Ladakh is already witnessing extreme cold, with temperature dropping to minus 25 degree Celsius during nights.
The Indian Army has set up facilities to keep its soldiers comfortable on the mountains along the LAC. The accommodation includes heating arrangements keeping in mind that the temperature in the region slips to minus 30-40 degree celsius, along with chilly winds. The arrangement also includes electricity, water, health and hygiene.
