Deliberations on to resolve LAC tensions

Indian, Chinese troops dig in with reinforcements.

Deliberations are continuing on a daily basis between military commanders of India and China on the ground in addition to other channels of communication to resolve the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), official sources said on Monday.

Tensions continue at various places along the LAC with both sides digging in with reinforcements and a wait and watch was underway, the sources stated.

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Green top hill above the finger area of Pangong Tso (lake) seems to be the latest friction point, with reports stating that 18 Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel from a larger patrol party were being detained by Chinese soldiers. However, the Indian Army on Sunday denied any such “detention”.

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The other area that continues to see major tensions is the Galwan Nalah area with tensions at two to three points. A road branching from the 255 km Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldi (DSDBO) road towards the Galwan Nalah seems to be the reason for Chinese objections.

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“This stand of China is not tenable as the Galwan area has never been a point of contention earlier,” multiple sources said. This amounted to a change in the status quo and would not be acceptable to India in any manner. It violated all existing agreements between India and China, the sources noted.

Bridge inauguration

In October last, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a strategically important bridge in this general area on the Shyok river to boost connectivity from Drabuk to the strategically important Daulat-Beg-Oldie (DBO) in eastern Ladakh.

Sandwiched between the strategic Karakoram and Chang Chenmo ranges, the ‘Col Chewang Rinchen Setu’ is a 430-metre bridge bult at an altitude of 14,650 feet built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) within 15 months.

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The BRO is gearing up to resume work full-time post the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown restrictions. It is also building 61 strategic Indo-China Border Roads (ICBRs), measuring 3323.57 km in length, under the direction of the China Study Group (CSG).

The official sources said the work was affected in the aftermath of the lockdown but partially resumed after getting special permissions. With restrictions being significantly reduced, the BRO was making efforts to move construction labour in large numbers to forward locations, including by special trains. The working season was very limited and there was need to catch up on the lockdown delays as well.

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In March last, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence expressed satisfaction that the BRO has completed work on 75% of the construction work on the 61 ICBRs.