4km buffer sat three key points as troops pull back
Satellites confirm headway as India, China ease stand-off
NEWDELHI: The Indian Army has begun a rigourous verification process to monitor the withdrawal of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) from friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh even as a complicated disengagement plan moved forward in Hot Springs and Gogra, where the two armies are working to create a 4km buffer zone between troops within a 24-hour time frame, four officials familiar with the developments said on Tuesday evening.
The PLA has withdrawn up to 2km from Patrolling Point 15 (Hot Springs) and a similar retreat is expected to be completed at PP-17 (Gogra) by Wednesday evening, with the Indian Army pulling back proportionately.
This is based on an understanding reached last week by top Indian and Chinese military commanders on a phased de-escalation of the ongoing border conflict in the Ladakh theatre, said one of the officials cited above, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The two armies have already created a 4km buffer zone in Galwan Valley, the site of a deadly clash which left 20 Indian and an unconfirmed number of Chinese soldiers dead on June 15, said a second official.
The creation of buffer zones will temporarily restrict the patrolling activities of both armies in the region. While some experts saw this as a necessary step, others cautioned that the temporary curtailing of patrolling rights should not become a long-term feature undermining Indian presence and control.
Hindustan Times reported on Tuesday that the PLA had withdrawn up to 1.5 km from friction areas in Galwan Valley, Hot Springs and Gogra, and the Indian Army also pulled back proportionately. A minor thinning of PLA soldiers has been noticed at the sensitive Finger Area near Pangong Tso.
Satellite images on Tuesday appeared to confirm the PLA pullback from Galwan Valley. “
NEW DELH: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday carried out an extensive review of India’s ongoing infrastructure projects in border areas, including the Ladakh sector, where military tensions between India and China have surged during the last two months.
“The state of forward connectivity was reviewed and the consistent need of boosting the ongoing projects and to expedite the construction of strategic roads, bridges and tunnels in the border areas was discussed,” the defence ministry said in a statement.
Some of these strategic roads and bridges, being constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), are coming up along the country’s border with China and are scattered across Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
India is working on two key roads near the China border in eastern Ladakh to provide conof to an important forward area that the military calls Sub-Sector North (SSN), as reported by Hindustan Times on June 9.
The first is the strategic Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldi road that provides connectivity to the country’s northern-most outpost, Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO). The second road being built from Sasoma to Saser La could eventually provide an alternative route to DBO near the Karakoram pass.
The ministry said that swift snow clearance works by BRO “ensured rapid and early movement of troops and logistics to forward areas.” It executed such works on 149 roads (a total length 3,965 kilometres) in Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
“The BRO has worked incessantly even during the restrictions imposed due to Covid-19 without affecting the progress of various projects. Despite unprecedented snowfall breaking a 60-year record, all strategic passes and roads were cleared this year for traffic about one month before their average yearly opening dates,” the statement said.
The BRO has executed 30% more works in the financial year 2019-20 as compared to 2018-19, it added, highlighting how India’s focus on border projects continues to grow.
Trials have also been carried out successfully for indigenously produced modular bridges in collaboration with Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative. “This will revolutionize the bridge-laying capabilities in forward areas,” the statement said.