‘Nothing conceded’: Centre on LAC troop pullback deal
NEW DELHI: The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will retreat to its base east of Finger 8 on the north bank of Pangong Tso, the Indian Army will move back to its permanent position near Finger 3 and neither side will patrol the contested areas in between until an agreement is reached through future talks, defence minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament on Thursday, explaining the nuances of a disengagement plan hammered out by the two armies to reduce military tensions in eastern Ladakh.
Until now, rival soldiers have been deployed eyeball-to-eyeball on the Finger 4 ridgeline at heights of almost 18,000 feet.
The Chinese defence ministry announced the disengagement on Wednesday; New Delhi did not react immediately because Parliament was in session, and a day later, Singh briefed the House on the breakthrough in a months-long impasse.
In a detailed statement on the situation in eastern Ladakh, Singh told Rajya Sabha and later Lok Sabha that the next meeting between senior military commanders of the two armies to discuss other issues will take place 48 hours after “complete disengagement” in the Pangong Lake area — both north and south banks.
Singh told both Houses that India did not “concede anything” during the military talks, and added that there were still some “outstanding issues regarding deployment and patrolling” at
DHAN SINGH POST
KEY TAKEAWAYS some other points along the LAC, and these will be the focus of further discussions with the Chinese side.
He did not name the other friction points where disengagement is expected to take place in phases after it is completed in the Pangong Tso area. These flashpoints include Gogra, Hot Springs and Kongka La — areas that were traditionally not disputed as both sides had a somewhat common perception of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The minister’s statement came on the back of a limited withdrawal of front-line troops
PANGONG TSO
Neither of the two armies will patrol this region until an agreement is reached by the Indian and Chinese armies from the Pangong Tso area on the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC). India and China on Wednesday pulled back tanks and infantry combat vehicles from heights on the south bank of Pangong Tso a fortnight after military commanders agreed on January 24 to push for an early disengagement of their front-line troops.
The Indian Army on Thursday released visuals of rival tanks disengaging from the heights on the south bank. The tanks were deployed barely 50 metres away from each other. In
SIRIJAP II
FINGER 8
Lok Sabha, Singh said disengagement was progressing smoothly and the vehicles (armoured elements) that were to retreat (from heights on the south bank) had gone back to their respective sides.
“The agreement that we have been able to reach with the Chinese side for disengagement in the Pangong lake area envisages that both sides will cease their forward deployments in a phased, coordinated and verified manner. The Chinese side will keep its troop presence in the north bank area to the east of Finger 8. Reciprocally, the
Indian troops will be based at their permanent base at Dhan Singh Thapa post near Finger 3,” Singh said in his highly anticipated statement on the Ladakh standoff.
Similar actions will be taken on the south bank by both armies, Singh said, without elaborating on the areas to which rival soldiers will fall back. The Finger Area, a set of eight cliffs jutting out of the Sirijap range overlooking the Pangong lake, is one of the many friction points in the eastern Ladakh theatre.