New Delhi: India and China have agreed to discuss “complete disengagement” along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh, the Army said Thursday.

This comes after the fourth round of talks between the corps commanders of India and China Tuesday, which went on for 15 hours at Chushul.

Multiple meetings were held Wednesday to discuss the outcome of the talks, including by the government’s high-powered China Study Group (CSG) — a panel comprising top civil servants, armed forces and intelligence personnel — that serves as policy adviser to the executive on China.

The meeting was attended by Army Chief General M.M. Naravane and 14 Corps Commander Lt. Gen. Harinder Singh, who has been representing India at all the Corps Commander-level meetings held with South Xinjiang Military District, Major General Lin Liu since 6 June.

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‘Intricate, require constant verification’

The Army said in the statement: “The engagement was consistent with the consensus reached between the Special Representatives of India and China earlier, on 5 July, to discuss complete disengagement.”

It added, “The Senior Commanders reviewed the  progress on implementation of the first phase of disengagement and discussed further steps to ensure complete disengagement.”

While the Army said the two sides remain committed to the objective of complete disengagement, it added the process would be “intricate and would require constant verification”.

India and China have been engaged in discussions since June through established military and diplomatic channels to address the prevailing situation along the LAC.

The two sides are taking it forward through regular meetings at diplomatic and military levels, the Army said.

According to sources, a review of the ongoing pulling back of troops at Galwan Valley, Hot Springs area and Gogra Post was carried out and the further disengagement at Finger 4 of Pangong Tso was discussed Tuesday.

Pullback of troops have taken place

As reported by ThePrint Wednesday, the disengagement process has been slow and is likely to last several months through the winter.

“For Finger 4 to 8, the claim lines are being discussed further and the future discussions, as decided in the last corps commanders talks, would be on them,” a defence source told ThePrint.

“The current deployment will be withdrawn in a phased manner, and timelines and modalities for various patrol points, such as PP-14, are being worked out,” the source added.

That is because, the source said, while there has been a pullback of troops from most areas, they are yet to return to pre-April positions.

For instance, Indian troops are still not going to certain patrol points as they used to go earlier.

Sources had earlier said while the Chinese troops have retreated from Indian side of the LAC at various locations, the Chinese build-up remains, which is much ahead of their peacetime locations pre-April.

However, there has not been a tangible pullback from Finger 4 at Pangong Tso and Depsang Plains, they said.

Instructions have been given to the troops to avoid any engagement, and ensure adequate distancing between troops on ground and in the lake.

Another source said certain ad hoc or temporary patrol points are being worked out so the troops do not go beyond them.

“Once identified on ground, it will ensure that there is no physical clash of troops,” the source said.

The key takeaways, sources said, were that both countries want resolution in a peaceful manner and want to avoid clashes, which may escalate the situation.

Also read: No additional troops or new tents — what India, China discussed at corps commanders’ meet

The former Northern Army commander said additional troops from the Leh-based 14 Corps should be deployed here.

The Army’s 14 Corps has two divisions under it — one which looks after Siachen and the other which is posted along the Line of Actual Control with China.

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Each division has about 10,000-12,000 men with artillery and other elements.

Panag also said that in case of a war, the strategic Darbuk-Shyokh-Daulat Beg Oldie (DSDBO) road would be rendered non-operational and even the airfield there would come under Chinese missile attacks.

He was speaking during an interaction for the launch of his book, The Indian Army, Reminiscences, Reforms and Romance, on ThePrint’s e-venue Soft Cover.

Panag said China has been aggressive along the LAC in Ladakh because it believed New Delhi was building all-weather roads through the same route that the Indian Army used in 1962 to reach Galwan Valley, thereby threatening Aksai Chin.

“While the overall intent of China is to have hegemony over India, make India play the younger brother kind of the role … The Chinese are very sensitive to threats to Aksai Chin,” he said, adding that even in 1962, the discussions of the Chinese politburo centred around India’s plans against China.

“The two reasons cited (back then) was that India wanted Tibet’s freedom, in fact to usurp Tibet, and second was that through the forward policy we are trying to gain more Chinese territory,” he said. “This was the main theme in the politburo discussions.”

Also read: China believes India wants Aksai Chin back. PLA has likely secured 40-60 sq km in Ladakh

Strategic DBO sector wouldn’t count in a war

Talking about the strategic DSDBO road, Panag said the DBO sector has its own inherent weaknesses and there is no point in saying that we have an airfield there.

It would be rendered non-operational for India because the Chinese can easily observe the road from within their own side of the LAC if they sit on the heights. The same also applies to the Advance Landing Ground in DBO, which is less than 15 km from the LAC.

This means that it can be easily targeted by rockets which will render the airfield useless, Panag said.

“The DBO road cannot be used in operations because the Chinese have to just get on to the heights on their top,” he said. “Even in their own side of the LAC, they can observe the road and destroy the bridges and others with their rocket force.”

The airfield is just 15-20 km from the LAC, he said, putting it in the direct artillery range. “It will be rendered useless on the very first day of operations.”

Panag added that one should not talk about taking back lost territory without developing capability, an apparent reference to statements by BJP leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah, who said that India will take Aksai Chin back.

‘Reasons behind the Chinese moves’

Explaining the strategic reasons behind the Chinese moves, Panag said the DBO is the western approach to Aksai Chin and Kongka La is the southern approach.

“From the area of Hot Springs and Gogra Post, there are two routes,” he explained. “One goes to the east to the Kongka La and from there to almost the eastern edge of the Aksai Chin. There is another route that goes from Hot Spring northwards. This route goes to the source of the Galwan river.”

Giving a historical perspective, he added, “What people don’t realise is that in 1962 when we established the Galwan Post, it was 80 km upstream. And the route that we took was from Hot Springs.

“So from Hot Springs we approached the source of the Galwan river, a little below it and established a post. We actually went and established the post in 1962 behind the Chinese. The direct access to Aksai Chin is from DBO and Galwan and hence the Chinese are very sensitive”.

He said the Chinese observed that India has built the DBO road and is making one in the Hot Springs area northwards, which would have taken Indians to the source of the Galwan river just like in 1962.

“What would be the end result? We will threaten the Galwan river deployment of the Chinese. We will once again get behind it,” he said. “Then the whole of Galwan Valley will be eventually taken by India.”

He said the fact that India was building access to the Galwan river from both sides — Hot Springs and confluence of the Shyok and Galwan — is the real reason why the Chinese have taken action.

He also said the Pangong Tso is being eyed by China because there is another route through Sirijap Post in the area to Aksai Chin.

Also read: Rifles, missiles, ammunition, drones — armed forces on shopping spree amid LAC tensions

Surat, July 16

Woman police constable Sunita Yadav, who had a confrontation with a minister’s son over lockdown violation which led to his arrest here in Gujarat, claimed she has resigned from service.

Prakash Kanani, the son of Gujarat Minister of State for Health Kumar Kanani, and his two friends were arrested on Sunday for allegedly violating the lockdown and night curfew orders in Surat, a COVID-19 hotspot, a senior police official earlier said.

Also read: Support pours in for Gujarat woman cop who “took on” minister’s son

Yadav, who is being hailed on social media for taking action against the minister’s son, told news channels on Wednesday that she had put in her papers.

“I have resigned because I did not receive support from my superior officers. I was only doing my duty as a constable. It’s the fault of our system that these people (like the minister’s son) think they are VVIPs (very very important persons),” she said.

However, a senior police official here denied that she has resigned.

“She has not given her resignation. The inquiry is still on and technically she cannot resign at this juncture,” Surat Police Commissioner R B Brahmbhatt said.

Yadav’s action had led to the registration of an FIR and arrest of Prakash Kanani and two of his friends for alleged violation of lockdown and curfew norms in Surat city.

The arrests came after a video of a heated exchange between them and Yadav, who pulled up the trio for violation of curfew, surfaced on social media. The trio was later released on bail.

Since the incident, Yadav is being hailed on social media.

While some social media users called her “Lady Singham” (referring to the tough cop in the Hindi film “Singham”), some suggested she contest the 2022 state Assembly polls against Kumar Kanani, who represents Varachha constituency in Surat district.

#i_support_sunita_yadav” began to trend on Twitter after the news of the confrontation spread. PTI

run Joshi

Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 16

The Indian army on Thursday confirmed that there would be more military and diplomatic-level meetings between India and China to ensure complete disengagement to draw curtains on the standoff once and for all in the near future.

It was the officially acknowledged outcome of the talks held at Commander-level that began on Tuesday morning and concluded in the early hours of Wednesday.

An official statement released by the Army on Thursday while referring to the commander-level meetings in Chushul on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control — the fourth such round of talks between the Corps Commanders of India and China of their respective regions facing each other, said: “The Senior Commanders reviewed the progress on the implementation of the first phase of disengagement and discussed further steps to ensure complete disengagement.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, on Wednesday, had said: “The Chinese and the Indian border troops held the fourth round of commander-level talks on July 14. Building on the common understanding reached at the previous three rounds of commander-level talks and corresponding implementation work, the two sides achieved progress in further disengagement between the border troops as well as easing the situation at the western sector of the China-India boundary.”

We hoped that India would work with China to implement our consensus with concrete actions and jointly safeguard peace and tranquillity in the border areas, Chunying added.

This meeting was a sequel to the July 5 deliberations between the special representatives. This meeting on the border question, in which the two sides had agreed to go in for complete disengagement at the LAC, “The two sides remain committed to the objective of complete disengagement. This process is intricate and requires constant verification. They are taking it forward through regular meetings at a diplomatic and military level,” the officials said.

There is a standoff between the Indian and Chinese troops at the LAC since the first week of May.

“The engagement was consistent with the consensus reached between the Special Representatives of India and China earlier, on July 5 to discuss complete disengagement,” officials said on the Sino-India military talks.

The government’s high-powered China Study Group (CSG) on Wednesday reviewed the latest developments in eastern Ladakh, with focus on the next stage of disengagement between the Indian and Chinese armies following the 14-hour meeting between senior military commanders.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad Arvind Bobde also said that the court is inclined to extend by 3 months the tenure of officers retiring on July 22 and 23.