Experts raise concern over Ladakh face-off

INDIA-CHINA TENSION

The tense confrontation between Indian and Chinese forces along the disputed border in eastern Ladakh and the accompanying military build-up is vastly different from previous standoffs that plunged bilateral relations to new lows, people familiar with the ongoing scrap said on Saturday.

The standoff along the line of actual control (LAC) is not confined to a small area, has triggered an increase in troop numbers on both sides at many locations, has seen higher levels of aggression (especially by the Chinese), and seems to suggest a greater design, army officials and China watchers say. Indian and Chinese soldiers are said to be eyeball-to-eyeball at four locations in the sector and the number of soldiers on both sides at these flashpoints is said to be around 3,000.

Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane made a lowkey visit to Ladakh on Friday for a security review as tensions grew between India and China near Pangong Tso and three pockets in the Galwan Valley where Chinese troops have pitched 100-odd tents and erected temporary structures to mark a presence.

“What we are witnessing in eastern Ladakh is different from what we saw in Depsang (2013), Chumar (2014) and even Doklam (2017). The previous episodes were localised. This one is not. Also, it appears to have been planned at a higher level,” said Lieutenant General DS Hooda (retd), who was the Northern Army commander when Indian and Chinese soldiers were caught in a standoff in Ladakh’s Chumar sector in September 2014.

“If the statements made by the two foreign ministries are any indicator, it seems the current confrontation could carry on for a while,” said a China expert. Hooda doubted that the standoff could be resolved at the local level. “It will require political direction and diplomatic intervention,” he said.

HT was the first to report on May 10 about tensions flaring up between India and China in north Sikkim where 150 soldiers were involved in a standoff a day earlier.