With no signs of disengagement on the ground in Ladakh, where India and China have been locked in a stand-off since April, both sides will stay dug in during the region’s bitter winter too.

With no signs of disengagement on the ground in Ladakh, where India and China have been locked in a stand-off since April, both sides will stay dug in during the region’s bitter winter too, the sources added. The Chinese, they added, have deployed around 50,000 soldiers and equipment, including missile systems, tanks and artillery, at the border.

The sources’ comments come as the ground situation in Ladakh remains the same despite the Chinese seemingly adopting a reconciliatory approach during different levels of dialogue. They suggest that India has changed its rules of engagement for the Line of Actual Control (LAC), where firing of shots was thus far barred under a bilateral agreement, since the 15 June Galwan Valley clash.

The clash had resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers, including a commanding officer, and many Chinese troops.

“We have told our soldiers that they can open fire if there is a fear of their own safety. They can fire for self-defence,” a source said, adding that China has been told the same.

According to the sources, there is no question of believing Chinese words of peace unless their deeds on the ground match up. The sources also said China has given them a number for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers killed in the Galwan Valley clash — a number Beijing has yet to publicly acknowledge.

The Chinese, sources said, have told the Indian side that five of their soldiers, including a commanding officer, had died in the clash. “If the Chinese are saying five, we can easily double it if not triple it,” a top South Block officer said.

Chinese soldiers far outnumbered Indian troops during the Galwan Valley clash, which took place after a disengagement effort went awry.

“According to the agreement, both sides are supposed to have a 15-20-member-strong patrol team. Over the last few years (since Doklam), the Chinese started increasing numbers,” the source added..

Sources said since the intervening night of 29-30 August, when Indian soldiers moved in to capture several heights near the southern bank of the Pangong Tso, there has been a number of occasions when shots were fired in the air.

Also Read: India, China say won’t send more troops to Ladakh frontlines, agree to avoid misunderstandings

‘Both sides preparing for winter deployment’

Both sides, sources said, are likely to stay deployed in the forward areas of Ladakh through the winter, with China insisting on disengaging from the southern bank of the Pangong Tso first while India has been clear that it has to happen in in all areas simultaneously.

“India is also of the opinion that since it was the Chinese who initiated the aggression, they should be the first one to start disengaging,” a source added.

The sources admitted that while India has been seeking complete disengagement and status quo ante (return to positions before the stand-off began, following Chinese incursions in April), the current positions will continue to be held for some time, as reported by ThePrint earlier this week.

“I can’t put a time-frame on when the disengagement will happen. The position stays as it is,” one of the above-mentioned sources said.

Also Read: 5 maps that tell you all you want to know about India vs China in Ladakh

‘Depsang issue predates current tensions’

Talking about Depsang Plains, one of the flashpoints in Ladakh, the sources said the issue there predates the current tensions between India and China. Without getting into a timeline, the sources said there are no Chinese soldiers camping at the Bottleneck, also known as Y-Junction.

“We go by foot beyond Bottleneck as vehicles cannot cross that area. The Chinese observe our movement and they have deployed two vehicles that come and block our path well before Patrol Point 10. But we have been reaching our patrolling points using other routes,” a source said.

“But since the tensions began, we have avoided pushing ahead so as not to create fresh escalation,” the source added, saying both sides have built up in depth areas.

Also Read: Xi’s motivations behind LAC standoff and why China has been hyperactive since 2017

Top government sources said this has been the established practice on the countries’ border in the Northeast, and has worked well barring the occasional face-off. However, the sources said that border infrastructure development along the LAC, as planned by India, will continue since the activities are well within territory it controls.

“In the Northeast, both sides patrol every week to their patrolling points. We know when the Chinese are coming and they know when we are coming. This ensures that the troops don’t come face-to-face. This is something that can be done in the forward areas of Ladakh too,” a source said.

The source added that local commanders in the Northeast speak to each other regularly — a practice that has continued even during the Ladakh stand-off, with the Chinese even saying that both sides must ensure that what happened in the northern sector should not be allowed to develop there.

“However, we are not leaving anything to chance. Our strict vigil continues all along the LAC. There has not been any kind of aggressive deployment by the Chinese in the Northeast,” the source said.

However, the sources underlined that the formula being worked out will come into effect only when disengagement at the LAC is completed.

As reported by ThePrint on 22 September, India insists China needs to take steps for disengagement first, since it was the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) that moved in.

Also read: 5 maps that tell you all you want to know about India vs China in Ladakh

China’s aggressive patrolling started since Doklam

Sources said according to previous India-China agreements, each side is supposed to have a patrol strength of 15-20 troopers.

However, since the 2017 Doklam stand-off, when India stepped into Bhutanese territory and blocked China’s illegal road construction activity, the PLA started bring in bigger patrols along the LAC.

“From 15-20, the number increased to 30 and so on. It has been happening over a period of time. It came to such a point that they started coming en masse and surrounding our troops. This resulted in scuffles, and that led to stone throwing. Then, the Chinese started bringing in clubs and sharp weapons like machetes,” a source said.

The source added that this is what happened on 15 June in the Galwan Valley.

“It was a melee. We could not open fire because the bullets could have hit our own,” the source said.

India has made it clear to China that its soldiers will open fire to defend themselves, and Chinese tactics of “using mass” will not be tolerated.

China has more than doubled its air bases, air defence positions, and heliports near the LAC since the Doklam crisis.

“The 2017 Doklam crisis appears to have shifted China’s strategic objectives, with China more than doubling its total number of air bases, air defence positions, and heliports near the Indian border over the past three years,” a report by leading global geopolitical intelligence platform Stratfor had said.

Also read: India-China endgame in Ladakh looks costly unless both Modi and Xi get a face-saver deal

Less than a fortnight after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi came up with a five-point roadmap to resolve the Ladakh standoff, the corps commander-level talks between the two countries seem to have made some headway. In a joint statement, Indian and Chinese armies have agreed to stop sending more troops to the frontline, desist from unilaterally changing the situation on the ground and avoid actions that may complicate matters. All that sounds good, but it’s the implementation that will count. China’s blatant disregard for previous agreements has led to renewed hostilities of late.

Disengagement of troops from the friction points on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is a prerequisite for de-escalation of tensions. Over the past four months or so, eastern Ladakh has seen it all — bloody skirmishes, firing of shots, incursions by Chinese troops and pre-emptive action by Indian soldiers. Several rounds of talks at the military level didn’t bear fruit as the Chinese army persisted with its brazen misadventures. On the diplomatic front, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh recently conveyed India’s firm stand to his Chinese counterpart in Moscow, followed by the Jaishankar-Yi talks.

Adopting an unusually conciliatory tone, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his pre-recorded address to the UN General Assembly that his country would ‘continue to narrow differences and resolve disputes with others through dialogue and negotiation.’ This should be music to India’s ears, but past experience has shown that China can be taken at face value only at one’s peril. India can’t afford to let its guard down along the entire 3,488-km-long LAC. With the Ladakh region bracing itself for a typically harsh winter beginning next month, the Indian troops would have to step up vigil to ensure that the Chinese army doesn’t try to capitalise on the bad weather to make mischief. India shouldn’t expect a quick end to the border standoff, which has remained under the glare of the international community. With the US and its allies calling China’s military actions unprovoked and provocative, India needs to cash in on this support to make the neighbour mend its ways.

COMMISIONED  APR 1973, FROM OTS

1. NOW A senior Army Veteran with 36 years of experience in the Army and 10 years in the corporate world
2. An illustrious career in the Army. Rare honour of commanding two Infantry Battalions (One during the Kargil War). Had the honour to-command the “SIACHEN BRIGADE” popularly known as the Highest Battlefield in the World.
3. Re-attired into the corporate world as the head of BD, Industrial displays Samtel Group of Companies and COO of International Center of Robotic Surgery, an American MNC till Dec 2013.5.Advisor Defense & homeland security, Sports and youth affairs at PHD Chamber of Commerce, Delhi for four years and director at the Regional Office at Chandigarh looking after three states.

An avid golfer, Keen Cyclist, and theatre person I actively take part in Theatre for Social Causes. I have acted in a couple of YouTube Movies on the topical and contemporary issues of Punjab.

WELCOME BY SANJHA MORCHA

Sanjha Morcha welcome Brig  HPS Bedi VSM to the folds of its family and hope he will enjoy working with the tireless team

Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 19

Four years after the Ministry of Defence approved induction of women as fighter pilots into the Indian Air Force, their strength has gone up to 10, the Ministry of Defence told Parliament on Saturday.

“The strength of women officers serving the IAF as on September 1, 2020, is 1,875.  Of these, 10 women officers are fighter pilots and 18 women officers are navigators,” Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik said in a written reply to Dr Vikas Mahatme in the Rajya Sabha.

After approval from the ministry, IAF launched a scheme for induction of women short service commission officers into the fighter stream of the Flying Branch in 2016, under which 10 women fighter pilots have been commissioned till date.

Women fighter pilots are inducted and deployed in IAF as per strategic needs and operational requirements within the laid down policy, which is reviewed from time to time, Naik added.

Earlier this month, in a statement made before the Delhi High Court while rebutting the depiction of its work culture in the Netflix movie Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, the IAF had mentioned that in addition to the fighter pilots, it had 51 transport pilots and 50 helicopter pilots.

The first batch of IAF women fighter pilots comprised Bhawana Kanth, Mohana Singh and Avani Chaturvedi. Besides the Flying Branch, IAF women officers serve in several other branches including air traffic and fighter control, engineering, administration, logistics and legal. Till the IAF opened its doors to women officers in 1991, women had been serving only in the medical branch.