India-China Border Standoff: Buffer Zones To Be Removed, Demchok, Depsang See ‘Resolution’

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri Monday hinted at a complete resolution of the 2020 border standoff that also saw the Chinese PLA kill 20 Indian soldiers.

Representational image of Indian Army and PLA soldiers (from military exercise 'Hand in Hand 2013' at Chengdu in China).

Source : PTI

New Delhi: In a historic turn of events, the ongoing border standoff between India and China in the Eastern Ladakh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) may be finally headed for a resolution after four long years. The Indian Army has been “allowed to” patrol certain areas that it used to before the face-off began, sources said, and the government on Monday hinted at a “patrolling arrangement” between the two sides.

Both the Indian Army as well as the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) are looking to disengage from the remaining points where the faceoff is currently going on, including in the Demchok area and Depsang Plains, multiple sources told ABP Live.

The “patrolling arrangement” was alluded to at a media briefing by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Monday. Under the proposed agreement, the sources added, the Indian Army will be able to resume patrolling in Demchok as well as Depsang, which used to happen prior to the 2020 standoff, sources said. 

The details of the resolution between both sides are likely to be announced after a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which is likely to happen on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, this week, the sources added.

The Depsang Plains’ Y-Junction area, also called ‘Bottleneck Area’, gives India access to five patrolling points (PP) – PP10, 11, 11A, 12 & 13. 

China has reportedly been blocking Indian patrols from accessing certain patrolling points (PP) in the Depsang area, particularly at PP10, PP11, PP12, and PP13, claiming these as part of their territory. Any resolution here would be significant because Depsang has seen clashes previously, such as in 2013, when Chinese forces set up a temporary camp, leading to a standoff. 

A similar situation exists in the Charding-Ninglung Nala area of Demchok, which has been inaccessible to both Indian troops as well as graziers. This might also see some relaxation, the sources said.

Depsang and Demchok are two highly sensitive areas along the India-China LAC in the Eastern Ladakh region. Both regions have been points of friction between India and China due to their strategic importance and historical claims by both countries.

Demchok is located in southeastern Ladakh, near the Indus River, close to the Chumar-Demchok sector. The Depsang Plains are situated in northern Ladakh, near the strategic Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) airstrip, which is India’s northernmost airbase, close to the Karakoram Pass.

India-China To Take ‘Next Steps’

Speaking to reporters at a media briefing on Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Kazan on October 22-23 for the 16th BRICS Summit, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said, “Over the last several weeks Indian and Chinese diplomatic and military negotiators have been in close contact with each other in a variety of forums.

“As a result of these discussions, an agreement has been arrived at on patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border areas leading to disengagement and a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020. We will be taking the next steps on this.”

He also said that, amid the discussions and negotiations that have been going on since 2020 between the diplomats and military leaders on both sides, disengagement has happened in a few areas. But now it seems both sides have resolved the standoff situation in other areas along the Eastern Ladakh sector of the LAC too, where Indian troops had stopped patrolling.

“We’ve been in discussions with Chinese interlocutors both at a diplomatic level through the WMCC (Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination) as was mentioned earlier as well and through the military commander meetings at various levels,” said the Foreign Secretary, who was India’s Ambassador to Beijing from 2019 to 2021.

He added, “These (WMCC and military) discussions had in the past resulted in the resolution of standoffs at various locations. You are also aware that there were a few areas and few locations where the standoff had not been resolved. Now, as a result of the discussions that have taken place over the last several weeks, an agreement has been arrived at on patrolling arrangements along the LAC in the India-China border areas. This is leading to disengagement and eventually a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020.”

While the Foreign Secretary did not mention it clearly, he did hint that Prime Minister Modi may be holding a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, after which the resolution may happen.

Buffer Zones To Be Removed; Demchok, Depsang Would Be A ‘Climb-Down’

The India-China border standoff began in April-May 2020 when the Chinese PLA amassed hundreds of troops in Eastern Ladakh, leading to a faceoff situation.

The situation became highly tense, and resulted in the first instance of bloodshed on the LAC since 1975, when a clash at the Galwan river valley on the intervening night of June 15-16 resulted in the killing of 20 Indian soldiers by the PLA. Several Chinese soldiers were killed in the clash too.

So far, there had been disengagement at five friction points – Galwan valley, northern bank of Pangong Tso, Kailash Range, PP 17A in Gogra and PP15 in Gogra Hot Springs area – resulting in the creation of buffer zones or demilitarised zones. Both the Indian Army as well as the PLA were not allowed to patrol within these zones.

As a result, India was unable to patrol some of the areas that it was patrolling until May 2020. Therefore, there had been a change in status quo which India had been insisting on getting back.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has said that both sides will be able to “go back to patrolling” as it used to be in 2020.

“We are neighbours, we have an unresolved boundary issue … We both are rising. If two large neighbouring countries are rising in close proximity then there will be… issues. Truth is our capabilities and ambitions will change… We will have to manage,” Jaishankar said at the NDTV World Summit on Monday.

However, Lieutenant General Rakesh Sharma (Retd), who commanded the Fire and Fury Corps in Ladakh, facing both Pakistan and China, said allowing India to resume patrolling in Demchok and Depsang will mean a “major climb down” for the Chinese and that may not be happening soon.

“Any kind of agreement between India and China is good and positive. But as of now we do not know the details of the arrangement. If buffer zones are to be removed, then what happens to those exactly, one does not know. If the Chinese are going to allow patrolling in Demchok and Depsang, then why did they do what they did in 2020?” he said.

“The External Affairs Minister had once said bilateral ties between India and China are abnormal. If that is so, then has it become normal now?” he added.