At a time when Chinese Foreign Ministry is expressing hopes of troops going back to camping areas from present confrontation in Ladakh, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is showing no such signs on ground and has undertaken force accretion on contested Finger four relief feature of Pangong Tso.
The doubling of PLA troop strength on Finger four on north bank of the lake has sowed distrust in the Indian Army’s mind about the sincerity of Beijing offer even as it holds dominant positions south of the saltwater lake. The only other explanation is that the Chinese Foreign Ministry is not on the same page as the Western Theatre Commander of the PLA.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is meeting his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Moscow on Thursday to discuss the border situation and remind Beijing about the bilateral commitment to peace and tranquility accords signed since 1993 which pertain to minimum troop deployment along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The fundamental problem facing the Indian Army in proposed disengagement and de-escalation is lack of any Chinese guarantee that the PLA will not occupy those positions vacated by the Indian troops south of Pangong Tso. Just as PLA has taken dominant positions upto Finger 4 on the north bank, the Indian Army is now holding the Rezang La-Rechin La ridgeline right upto its perception of the LAC. The PLA troops are virtually contesting these Indian positions through large scale deployments south of the lake.
