There are at least 10 patrolling points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh that have been blocked by Chinese troops, a senior government official told The Hindu.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that face-offs with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) happened because “patrols were interrupted”.
‘Perception overlap’
There was no commonly delineated LAC, and there was an overlap with regard to the LAC’s perception in many areas, he noted.
The patrolling points (PPs) are the end points along the undefined LAC, up to which Indian troops patrol after starting from their base camps.
Since April, Indian troops have been denied access to PPs number 9, 10, 11, 12, 12A, 13, 14, 15, 17, and 17A. The blocked PPs span from the Depsang plains in the north to Pangong Tso (lake) in the south. In all, there are more than 65 PPs from the base of Karakoram to Chumar.
“Since the LAC is undefined, the PPs are the best way to assert territorial claims. With that access blocked by the Chinese and as per the disengagement plans in the past few months when buffer zones were created, many areas have become out of bounds for Indian troops as of now,” said the official.
Another official said in the past, Chinese commanders had made untenable demands that India vacate an administrative post in Pangong and some heights near the Kurang nala.
As per the disengagement plan agreed between the Corps Commanders of India and China on June 30, the two sides agreed to pull back from all the friction points and decided that “depth areas” such as the Depsang plains in the north, where China has amassed troops, will be looked into. However, so far the Chinese transgression at Depsang has not been discussed and in none of the government statements it finds a mention.
As reported by The Hindu, about 1,000 sq. km. of surface area in Ladakh along the LAC is said to be under Chinese control, with Indian troops denied access to patrolling since early this year. The major part — 972 sq. km. — lies in Depsang. Patrolling points 10-13, which have been obstructed, fall in Depsang.
The entire stretch along the LAC has witnessed “worrisome hardening of Chinese positions” since April-May, with China occupying a considerable area from Finger 4 to 8 near Pangong Tso. The distance between Finger 4-8, the mountainous spurs abutting the lake, is around 8 km. This was till now patrolled both by India and China as India’s perception of LAC ends at Finger 8.
“The areas currently blocked by the Chinese have always been patrolled by the Indian troops. In all the meetings so far, we have demanded the restoration of status quo ante before April,” said the second official.
After the Foreign Ministers of both countries– S. Jaishankar and Wang Yi, met in Moscow on September 10 and agreed on a five-point solution to ease the border tension, there has been no clarity on when the Corps Commanders will meet.
Since June, the Corps Commanders have met on five occasions- the latest one took place on August 2. The north and south banks of Pangong have witnessed firing in the air on multiple occasions since August 30, a first of its kind escalation since 1975.
On June 15, 20 Indian soldiers were killed in violent clashes with the Chinese.
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