LEH: Three years after the clash at Galwan along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, military deployments by India and China all along the LAC are the “new normal” and are here to stay.
Since early April 2020, China had started amassing thousands of troops, tanks, artillery guns and long-range missiles along the LAC on its side. India responded and mirrored the deployment in equal measure.
The clash at the Galwan valley on June 15, 2020, had led to the death of 20 Indian soldiers. China has so far officially acknowledged only four deaths even as independent researchers in neutral countries have put the death toll near 30.
In March this year, the Army Chief, Gen Manoj Pande, while speaking at a function mentioned the LAC situation: “Till the time a resolution happens, our deployment of forces and alertness level will continue to remain high.”
China has added roads and bridges, and has expanded airstrips for fighter jets and military bases. New dual-use villages have been set up by China close to the LAC on its side. India has matched with more roads and adding troops. On the Indian side, artificial intelligence-backed surveillance systems keep a 24×7 eye along the LAC. Drones, satellites, radars and ground sensors provide constant feed all along the 832-km LAC in eastern Ladakh.
In the past few months, India has described relations with China as “abnormal”. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, after a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang in March, described the relationship between the two countries as “abnormal”.
Beijing had pushed for the restoration of full bilateral relations attempting to delink the resolution of the military build-up along the LAC. India, however, rejected it and made it clear that status quo ante as on April 2020 has to be restored at the LAC.
Since June 6, 2020, military commanders of either side have met 18 times. India has suggested that a graded three-step process is needed to ease the standoff. The first is disengagement of troops within close proximity of each other in grey zones along the LAC and getting back to positions as on April 2020. This disengagement has largely happened other than at Depsang.
The next two steps de-escalation and de-induction of troops would entail pulling back troops and equipment to the pre-April 2020 levels.