India, China agree to pull back
Commanders reach ‘mutual consensus to disengage’, experts say arduous road ahead
NEW DELHI: Indian and Chinese military commanders reached a “mutual consensus to disengage” from all “friction areas” along the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC), which has been tense since a brutal brawl on June 15 left 20 Indian troops dead in the Ladakh sector, two senior officials said on Tuesday.
But the process of disengagement is likely to be “arduous and challenging”, and will require moving ahead cautiously in phases, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
The agreement was reached during an 11-hour meeting between top commanders at Moldo on the Chinese side of the LAC on Monday. The talks were aimed at cooling tensions and thinning the military build-up on both sides of the border. “The Corps Commander-level talks between India and China were held in a cordial, positive and constructive atmosphere,” one of the officials cited in the first instance said. “Modalities for disengagement from all friction areas in eastern Ladakh were discussed and will be taken forward by both the sides,” he added.
While disengaging in some friction areas was a “low-hanging fruit” and could to be achieved in a reasonable time-frame, the “real test” would lie in the restoration of status quo ante in the Finger Area where the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has set up permanent bunkers, pillboxes and observation posts, said one of the persons cited in the second instance. China watchers believe that the disengagement process is likely to be less complicated in the Gogra Post-Hot Springs and the Galwan Valley sectors, where there are no real issues about the alignment of the LAC.
The disengagement will have to be “equal, mutual and proportional,” said Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia (retd), a former DGMO.
“The disengagement will be a long-drawn process because of the mistrust that has set in after the Galwan Valley clash. A lot of verification through different means will be required at every stage of disengagement to make sure that the PLA has retreated,” added Bhatia, who served as the army’s DGMO during 2013-14.
The June 15 Galwan Valley skirmish in eastern Ladakh resulted in 20 deaths on the Indian side and the PLA suffered 43 casualties, according to Indian officials, but Beijing has not confirmed the fatalities. A Chinese spokesman on Tuesday dismissed such reports as “fake news”.
Disengagement in the Finger Area on the north bank of Pangong Tso will be tricky in comparison with Gogra Post-Hot Springs and the Galwan Valley sectors where limited disengagement had begun after the first meeting between senior Indian and Chinese commanders on June 6, said former Northern Army commander Lieutenant General DS Hooda (retd).