New Delhi. After long talks, India and China finally reached an agreement on military “patrol arrangement” on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). After this agreement, the standoff between the two armies on the remaining major confrontations on the ground in Depsang and Demchok of Ladakh will end in the coming seven to ten days. However, this is only the first step towards restoring normalcy on LAC.
A source in the defense and security establishment said, “China should also agree to the withdrawal of forward deployed troops and the subsequent long process of de-escalation, which is necessary to restore the status quo that existed before April 2020.”
The source said the new patrolling agreement means Chinese troops will stop blocking Indian troops in the ‘bottleneck’ area in the strategically located Depsang Plains, which is about 18 km inside India’s own territory, contrary to what has been done by both sides. The established temporary positions/posts will be transferred. “Similar withdrawal will be done at Charding Ninglung Nala Track Junction near Demchok in the south.”
However, there is no clarity on whether the plan to withdraw a few kilometers from the military standoff will give Indian troops “full access” to their traditional patrol points (PPs) 10, 11, 11A, 12 and 13 in Depsang. Which is towards the important Daulat Beg Oldie and Karakoram Pass in the north.
Patrolling will be done in all areas between the overlapping claims of both sides in the area, with a frequency of twice a month. “Both sides will coordinate patrolling and limit it to 15 soldiers each to avoid confrontation,” a source said. Incidentally, China claims 972 square kilometers of area in the Depsang area, which is near its vital western highway G-219 connecting Tibet with Xinjiang.
Both armies had earlier created no-patrol buffer zones of 3 km to 10 km on the Indian side of the LAC, following the withdrawal of troops in Galwan, the northern bank of Pangong Tso, the Kailash Range and the larger Gogra-Hot Springs area, with the last This time the army withdrew in September 2022. The buffer zones, which were supposed to be temporary arrangements, and the confrontations at Depsang and Demchok meant that Indian troops could not reach 26 of their 65 PPs in eastern Ladakh, starting from the Karakoram Pass in the north and running to Chumar in the south. Are.
There was also no answer to the question whether China has agreed to a new patrolling agreement in eastern Ladakh in exchange for some concessions given by India in Arunachal Pradesh. No statement has come from the Defense Ministry on this.
China had forward deployed more than 50,000 troops and heavy weapon systems along the LAC following multiple incursions by the People’s Liberation Army in eastern Ladakh in 2020. After this, Beijing further strengthened its position by deploying 90,000 more troops in the eastern sector of LAC (Sikkim, Arunachal). Another source said, “China continues to deploy its troops forward along the LAC.”