LAC disengagement in progress, likely to be over by weekend
Abiding by the agreement to disengage, India and China have started pulling back their troops and tanks from the friction points at the Pangong Tso (lake) in Eastern Ladakh. Videos and photographs released by the Indian Army here on Tuesday showed the Chinese rapidly removing tents and dismantling temporary structures built on ‘Finger 4’ and ridgelines along the Pangong lake.
If the current pace is maintained, the Indian and Chinese armies hopefully will completely withdraw and disengage from the stand-off sites at the lake by this weekend. The process started on February 10 and hailed as the first step in the long process to end the ten-month old tension at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh.
Once the withdrawal is complete from the southern and northern banks of the Pangong lake, the Corps Commanders of the two armies will jointly review the situation after 48 hours of the pullback, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had informed Parliament on February 11.
He said as per the agreement arrived at between the two sides after several rounds of military and diplomatic level talks, the pullback is synchronised and organised. He also asserted India did not concede anything while agreeing to the mutual disengagement.
The latest videos and photographs released by the Indian Army show the Indian and Chinese tanks disengaging from the south bank of Pangong lake area.
Videos also show Chinese forces dismantling tents and bunkers and carrying heavy load and walking on the mountainous terrain. A large number of Chinese soldiers are seen walking down a hillside to trucks which are waiting to take them away. Chinese earth-movers were seen restoring the land in the area, thus removing military structures which had been set up.
According to the pact, the Chinese will keep its troop presence in north bank of Pangong Lake to the east of “Finger 8”. The Indian troops will be based at their permanent base at Dhan Singh Thapa Post near “Finger 3”.
The area in between will be no man’s land for now with both sides agreeing not to patrol till some other issues are sorted out at the military and diplomatic levels.
Indicating the present positive mood, official said here the huge map engraved on the ground near “Finger 5” area by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops was cleared by them. The map was seen in satellite images during the height of the stand-off.
Chinese troops built up heavy defences and structures between “Finger 8” to “Finger 4” including fortified gun positions on the ridgelines of “Finger 4” overlooking the Indian positions.
At August end, amid actions on the South bank of Pangong Tso, Indian Army also set up positions around the ‘Finger 4’ ridgelines overlooking PLA positions to gain tactical advantage.
Once disengagement at Pangong lake is complete, Corps Commander talks likely to be held next week will discuss the next phase which would focus on the friction points at Gogra and Hot Springs. The bigger issue of contention between the two sides will be Depsang, where Chinese troops have been blocking Indian Army patrols from patrolling up to the PPs 10 to 13.
Wednesday, 17 February 2021 | PNS | New Delhi
