Making significant headway in efforts to resolve the military standoff along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, India and China have agreed to restore patrolling rights to each in the Depsang Plains and Demchok region — these are areas where the problems are called legacy issues, predating the 2020 Chinese incursions.
Sources said the two sides have agreed that patrolling in these two areas — the Depsang Plains in the north of Ladakh and Demchok in the south — will be carried out up to the old patrolling points along the LAC. This means that Indian troops can patrol up to patrolling point (PP) 10 to 13 in the Depsang Plains, and in Charding Nullah of Demchok.
Sources said certain mutual agreements have also been made for the eastern theatre, especially in the sensitive sectors of Arunachal Pradesh. Other sectors in the east will come up in discussions later between the two sides.
While there was agreement on patrolling rights in Depsang Plains and Demchok, sources said the situation at the other friction points — in Galwan Valley and Pangong Tso — where disengagement of troops was achieved two years ago with creation of buffer zones would remain the same.
“Patrolling will be carried out along our own LAC, as perceived prior to 2020, at a frequency of twice a month,” a source told The Indian Express.
While the normal strength of a patrol is about 13 to 18, at least 14-15 troops will be there in a patrol to avert any clash, sources said. Patrol programmes of both sides will be exchanged and in case of any clashing date or time, it will be mutually modified, sources said.
Patrolling, the sources said, will be well-coordinated between the two sides and they will keep each other informed.
Explained
Rekindling hope
The pact has rekindled hopes of early restoration of diplomatic and bilateral political ties. These can happen if the two sides are able to implement the next steps towards de-escalation and de-militarisation.
Overall deployment of troops along the LAC will also be thinned down. This was, in any case, part of the Army’s winter plan in Ladakh.
Sources said the two sides will continue with confidence building measures to reduce the trust deficit. “This will include CO/Commander level meetings on a monthly basis as well as on a case-to-case basis,” a source said.
The agreement on Depsang Plains and Charding Nullah in Demchok assumes significance since the Chinese side, until a year ago, showed reluctance to even discuss them while it agreed on disengagement at other friction points. There are seven friction points in eastern Ladakh where Indian and Chinese troops have had confrontations since May 2020. These include PP 14 (Galwan), PP 15 (Hot Springs), PP 17A (Gogra), north and south banks of Pangong Tso, Depsang Plains (the Chinese had cut off Indian access to the PPs there) and Charding Nullah.
The Depsang Plains is significant not just because it is 30 km southeast of the strategically important Daulat Beg Oldie post near the Karakoram Pass in the north, but also because in the midst of mountainous terrain, it offers a flat surface which can be used by either of the two countries to launch a military offensive, similar to the Spanggur Gap in the Chushul sub-sector.
Bottleneck, a rocky outcrop that provides connectivity across the Depsang Plains, is about 7 km east of Burtse where the Indian Army has a base. Burtse lies on the Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldie (DSDBO) road. The track going east from Burtse forks into two at Bottleneck, the reason why it is also called the Y-Junction. The track north, following the Raki Nala, goes towards PP10, while the track southeast goes towards PP-13 along Jiwan Nala.
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