Indian and Chinese tanks unload from the banks of Pangong lake in Eastern Ladakh, in 2021. | Photo Credit: PTI
There is a lot of hype about Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar’s comment that 75% disengagement has been completed by India and China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh and the Chinese response that both sides have been separated from four areas. in the border area.
However, the fact remains that both sides have agreed and verified the disengagement of the five points of friction while the other two points of friction, Demchok and Depsang, remain and there has been no progress towards a resolution in the past two years.
Also read | At the BRICS Summit in Russia, Doval was able to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, discussing the Line of Actual Control
Widespread optimism, once again, about a possible breakthrough between the two countries to achieve further dissolution in four years, will come in the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and the South). Africa) Summit in October, which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping. This is similar to the same situation last year before the BRICS Summit in August.
Speaking in Geneva on September 12, Mr Jaishankar said “roughly” about “75% of the partition issue has been sorted”. “We still have some things to do,” he said, adding that “there is a bigger issue that both of us are dealing with and in that sense, there is the militarization of the border.”
“There has been no change in the ground situation since it broke up two years ago,” a defense official said. Both sides have stated that once they are separated from the area of ​​friction, they will de-escalate, although the words “restoration of the status quo ante” have become less frequent over time. However, there is hope of a separation from Demchok, although there is no clarity on immediate Corps Commander-level talks.
‘Generally stable’
Responding to questions about National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and the meeting of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning, at a regular press conference on September 13, said, “In recent years, the frontline armies of the two countries have realized separated from four areas in the western sector of the China-India border, including the Galwan Valley.The situation on the China-India border is generally stable and under control.
With the disengagement carried out from five of the seven points, as officials have said on several occasions, statistically it is about 71.5%, quite close to 75%, and also the withdrawal of troops is recognized and verified on the ground, every time, by two – both.
Since the Corps commander-level talks in 2020, both sides have so far eliminated five points of friction – from Galwan after violent clashes in June 2020, from the North and South Banks of Pangong Tso in February 2021, from Patrolling Point ( PP) 17 in the Gogra region -Hot Springs in August 2021 and PP15 in September 2022. The final dissolution, from PP15, is the result of an understanding reached during the military discussion at the Corps Commander level on July 17, 2022.
At the end of August, the 19th Corps Commander’s consultation continued for two days and was followed by two Major General level audiences on the breakthrough in disengagement in Depsang and Demchok. While defense officials had stated that an agreement was close, it never happened.
The last few months have seen a series of high-level engagements between the two sides. On September 12, 2024, Mr. Doval met with Wang Yi on the sidelines of the BRICS meeting of high-level security officials in St. together LAC, which will “create” conditions for “stabilizing and rebuilding” bilateral relations. “Both sides agreed to work quickly and redouble their efforts to complete the complete removal of the remaining areas,” the MEA said.
The message was more difficult during the meeting with Mr. Wang Yi in July 2023, when Mr. Doval told that the situation in the LAC in the western sector since 2020 has “undermined the strategic trust” and the “public and political basis” of the relationship. He also stressed the importance of continuing efforts to resolve the situation and restore peace and tranquility in order to “remove obstacles to normalcy” in bilateral relations.
Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi met twice, in July where they highlighted the need to resolve the four-year-old military standoff in the LAC with “purpose and urgency” and again in August. There were also two meetings of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) within a month, although there were no Corps Commander-level discussions in between.
Meanwhile, China has been carrying out infrastructure development, habitat and induction of new weapons and equipment in the 3,488 km long LAC, fundamentally changing the status quo on the ground. India has also built infrastructure and increased capabilities to match the Chinese. This is in addition to the more than 50,000 troops and heavy equipment, on each side, which continue to be deployed near the LAC in Eastern Ladakh. Against this background, any de-escalation to restore the status quo before the standoff seems remote.
Published – 18 September 2024 04:57 IST