India foils China’s attempt to occupy more LAC land
Chinese return after finding Indians at Pangong lake
In a major flare-up in eastern Ladakh, the Indian Army has thwarted an attempt by Chinese troops to transgress and grab land on the southern banks of Pangong Tso on the night of August 29-30.
This is an attempt by the Chinese to open a new front in Ladakh. Till now the standoff was in the “Finger” area on the northern bank of Pangong Tso but the Chinese PLA are now also looking to infiltrate into the Chushul sector.
In a “pre-emptive move”, the Indian Army has now occupied a few heights in South Pangong Tso to dominate the area, sources said. The Army said in a statement on Monday that PLA troops had carried out “provocative military movements” to “change the status quo” on the night of August 29-30.
“Indian troops pre-empted this PLA activity on the southern bank of Pangong Tso Lake, undertook measures to strengthen our positions and thwart Chinese intentions to unilaterally change the facts on the ground,” the Indian Army statement said.
It added that the Indian Army was committed to maintaining peace and tranquility through dialogue, but was equally determined to protect its territorial integrity.
A brigade commanderlevel flag meeting was held at Chushul to resolve these issues.
Army Spokesperson Col Aman Anand said troops from China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “violated” the consensus arrived at during military and diplomatic engagements on the ongoing
standoff in eastern Ladakh, and carried out provocative military movements to change the status quo.
Initial reports say the Army got information that the Chinese had started building up forces to occupy Indian territory in Pangong Tso’s southern banks. The Indian Army physically occupied the area as soon as the PLA tried its transgressions. There was no physical clash between the troops.
The Indian Army’s “preemptive” move is days after Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Bipin Rawat warned that India has “military options” to deal with Chinese transgressions in Ladakh if talks between the two sides at the military and diplomatic level don’t yield any result.
Government sources said the top strategic and military brass including
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and the three service chiefs were briefed about the Chinese attempt in detail.
The Chinese Army’s Western Theatre Command accused India of crossing the LAC on Monday and of purposely launching “provocations”.
It said: “China strongly opposes the acts and urges India to immediately withdraw the troops that have illegally crossed the LAC.”
In New Delhi, people familiar with the developments said India has taken the Chinese attempt “seriously” and the Army has further increased its deployment of troops and weaponry in and around southern and northern banks of the Pangong Tso lake following the Chinese attempt. They said the attempt reinforced the assessment by the Army that China has not been serious in disengaging its troops from the friction points as it was still trying to change the status of the LAC in the new area.
The India-China military standoff in Ladakh will complete four months this week. The two armies are involved in a standoff in Pangong Tso, Hot Springs area and the Despang-DBO sector in Ladakh.
A series of military and diplomatic talks between India and China failed to persuade China to disengage its forces.
China has instead used this time only to bring its forces nearer the LAC, position heavy weaponry, build helipads and air defence systems and deploy missiles against India at new positions.