New Delhi: Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi has reiterated that the situation on the Line of Actual Control with China in Ladakh, which has seen tensions after the ingress by Chinese troops in May 2020, is “stable but sensitive and not normal”. There is an “additional deployment of troops” and “high alertness of troops” on the border. He also confirmed that two of the seven areas on the LAC which saw Chinese ingress, branded by him as “friction issues which are there” remain unresolved so far.
Lt Gen Dwivedi said that Depsang and Demchok are “also included” in these two “friction issues which are there” that are balance because “there are so many other issues which we also discuss”. He claimed that “we want the disengagement first, then we will go for de-escalation and then in the third stage, we will be looking at a normal management of LAC …and then of course that the clarification of LAC and the demarcation. These are the various stages” towards return of normalcy. He did not mention a return to status quo ante or the status quo as it existed before May 2020.
Media reports have suggested that in the last few rounds of talks between the corps commanders, the Chinese army has demanded the creation of a 15-20km buffer zone inside India-claimed lines on the strategic Depsang Plains as a precondition for disengagement, refusing India’s offer of a 3-4km no-patrolling zone. Such an arrangement would help Indian soldiers regain access to the five patrolling points – PP10, PP11, PP11A, PP12 and PP13 – in the area, but it would also give the PLA patrols access to its claimed area up to Burtse. It is not clear if the Indian military leadership has outrightly rejected the Chinese proposal or left it for the consideration of the political leadership.
Talking about the 20 rounds of border talks with China, the Northern Army Commander sounded positive since there has been a “persistent approach from both sides” and “we are looking at [ways so] that mutual concerns are addressed”. Without explicitly mentioning Depsang, he said in an interview to Bharatshakti.in that “we are trying to provide the momentum from both the sides but as we cut closer to the limited kind of areas of concern, you will find the areas are very critical in nature and it takes time to kind of come to the negotiating table and look for the options which are mutually acceptable.”
The PLA has denied the Indian Army’s patrols access to five patrol points – PP 10, 11, 11a, 12 and 13 – by blocking them at Bottleneck/Y junction around 18 km inside the LAC. Map: The Wire.
A report by a senior police official presented to the security conference last year had stated that Indian security forces were unable to reach 26 of the 65 patrolling points in Ladakh since 2020. Some of them were because the Chinese forces were blocking Indian troops, while others were due to formation of buffer zones as part of the disengagement plan agreed upon by India and China. A plinthed construction marking the site at Rezang La where Major Shaitan Singh, PVC of ‘C’ company, 13 Kumaon died fighting the Chinese in 1962 was dismantled by the Indian side as part of the buffer zone under the disengagement plan in 2021.
Lt Gen Dwivedi justified the construction of buffer zones on the border that are not being patrolled by both sides. “What happens when the two forces are facing each other and it leads to violence, then what is the way out? The way out is to earmark some area which are mutually agreed no-patrolling zone. So that wherever they were coming, they will not be coming; where we were going, we will not be able to go of course. Because the aim is that basically we are looking at peace and stability. We want to prevent violence, so keeping these two factors and give negotiations the time – to gain time this is the only way forward,” he contended.