Eyeball to eyeball: Indian-Chinese armies buildup in Ladakh
New Delhi: Indian and Chinese troops remained engaged in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation in several disputed areas along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh, signalling that the confrontation could become the biggest military face-off after the Doklam episode in 2017.
Top military sources said India has further increased its strength in Pangong Tso and Galwan Valley — the two contentious areas where Chinese army is learnt to have been deploying around 2,000 to 2,500 troops besides gradually enhancing temporary infrastructure.
“The strength of the Indian Army in the area is much better than our adversary,” said a top military official on the condition of anonymity.
The biggest concern for Indian military has been the presence of Chinese troops around several key points including Indian Post KM120 along the Darbuk-Shayok-Daulat Beg Oldie road in Galwan Valley.
“It is serious. It is not a normal kind of transgression,” former Northern Army Commander Lt Gen (Retd) DS Hooda told PTI.
He particularly emphasised that Chinese transgression into areas like Galwan was worrying as there was no dispute between the two sides in the area.
Strategic Affairs expert Ambassador Ashok K Kantha too agreed with Lt Gen Hooda.
“There have been multiple incursions (by Chinese troops). This is something which causes concern. It is not a routine standoff. This is a disturbing situation,” Kantha said.
Sources said diplomatic efforts must be ramped up to resolve the escalating tension between the two armies and that both sides are eyeball-to-eyeball in several areas including Pangong Tso, Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldie.
The Chinese side has particularly strengthened its presence in the Galwan Valley, erecting around 100 tents in the last two weeks and bringing in heavy equipment for construction of bunkers.
The sources said Indian troops are resorting to “aggressive patrolling” in several sensitive areas including Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldi.
The situation in Eastern Ladakh deteriorated after around 250 Chinese and Indian soldiers were engaged in a violent face-off on the evening of May 5 which spilled over to the next day before the two sides agreed to “disengage” following a meeting at the level of local commanders.
Over 100 Indian and Chinese soldiers were injured in the violence.
The incident in Pangong Tso was followed by a similar incident in North Sikkim on May 9.
India last week said the Chinese military was hindering normal patrolling by its troops and asserted that India has always taken a very responsible approach towards border management.
At a media briefing, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava also strongly refuted China’s contention that the tension was triggered due to trespassing by Indian forces on the Chinese side.
India’s response came two days after China accused the Indian Army of trespassing into its territory, claiming that it was an “attempt to unilaterally change the status” of the LAC in Sikkim and Ladakh.
On May 5, the Indian and Chinese army personnel clashed with iron rods, sticks, and even resorted to stone-pelting in the Pangong Tso lake area in which soldiers on both sides sustained injuries.
In a separate incident, nearly 150 Indian and Chinese military personnel were engaged in a face-off near Naku La Pass in the Sikkim sector on May 9. At least 10 soldiers from both sides sustained injuries.
The troops of India and China were engaged in a 73-day stand-off in Doklam tri-junction in 2017 which even triggered fears of a war between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488-km-long LAC. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet while India contests it.
Both sides have been asserting that pending the final resolution of the boundary issue, it is necessary to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas.
China has been critical of India’s reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir, and has particularly criticised New Delhi for making Ladakh a union territory. China lays claim over several parts of Ladakh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first informal summit in April 2018 in the Chinese city of Wuhan, months after the Doklam standoff.
In the summit, the two leaders decided to issue “strategic guidance” to their militaries to strengthen communications so that they can build trust and understanding.
Modi and Xi held their second informal summit in Mamallapuram near Chennai in October last year with a focus on further broadening bilateral ties.
Meanwhile, sSatellite images show massive construction activity at a high altitude Chinese air base, located just 200 kilometres away from the Pangong Lake, the site of the skirmish between forces of India and China on May 5 and May 6.
NDTV reported that two images exclusively sourced from the open show the Ngari Gunsa airport in Tibet. The first image is dated April 6, 2020 while the second one, dated May 21, this year, shows massive construction activity including the addition of what appears to be a second taxi-track or a secondary tarmac to position helicopters or combat aircraft.
A third image shows a close-up of the main tarmac at the airport with a line-up of four fighter jets believed to be either J-11 or J-16 fighters of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force.
The second image (right) dated May 21, this year, shows massive construction activity.
The J-11/J-16 are advanced, domestically produced variants of the Russian Sukhoi 27 and broadly match the capabilities of the Indian Air Forces Sukhoi 30 MKIs, its most potent fighter until the arrival of the first batch of Dassault Rafales in a few weeks.
A caption on close-up image with the fighters indicates that their deployment at this base was first spotted in December 2019. The close up images now released help spotters identify the type of fighters deployed.
The location of the Ngari Gunsa air base is particularly significant. A dual-use military and civil airport which serves the town of Shiquanhe in the Ngari prefecture, the airport is located at 14,022 feet, which makes it among the highest in the world.
The advantage gained by its location close to the Line of Actual Control is balanced by the reality that fighter jets deployed at such an altitude can only carry limited war-loads and fuels.
”The useful endurance of Chinese J-11 or J-16 fighters deployed at such altitudes will not be more than an hour,” said Squadron Leader Sameer Joshi (retired), a former IAF fighter pilot and Kargil war veteran.
”The useful endurance of Indian Air Force fighters which deploy from multiple air bases in the plains could be more than three to four hours if air to air refueling tankers are used.”
The close up images now released help spotters identify the type of fighters deployed.
In simple terms, this means that IAF fighter jets deployed in the area can fly longer than Chinese fighters deployed at the air base. On the other hand, China can deploy fighters at Ngari over parts of Ladakh which now see a faceoff between Indian and Chinese forces.
Reports indicate that several thousand Chinese soldiers have either crossed or are very close to the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh. The skirmishes which began on May 5 this year have seen vicious hand-to-hand fighting between Indian and Chinese forces on the North bank of the Pangong Lake.
The biggest area of concern is thought to be the Galwan River basin further North where Chinese forces are reported to have positioned themselves to threaten a road completed last year which leads up to Daulat Beg Oldie, a crucial Indian Air Force base in Ladakh which supplies Indian soldiers in the region.
Multiple meetings have been held between local commanders from the rank of Colonel to Major General in Ladakh but there has been no breakthrough at the moment. In Delhi, the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held meetings with the Chief of Defence Staff and the Armed Forces Chief.
Yesterday, the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi offered to repatriate Chinese nationals in India if they wished, though flight tickets would need to be borne by Chinese nationals who wished to avail of the services. The standoff between Indian and Chinese forces has been described as India worst border tension since Kargil in 1999.
Notably, top commanders of the Indian Army will carry out an in-depth review of the tense standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in several areas of eastern Ladakh at a three-day conference beginning today.
The commanders will also deliberate on the overall situation in Jammu and Kashmir besides delving into issues having national security implications, they said.
However, the main focus will be on the situation in eastern Ladakh where Indian and Chinese troops are locked in an eyeball-to-eyeball face-off in Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley, Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldie, the sources said.
Both India and China have significantly increased their presence in all sensitive areas in the region, signalling that the confrontation may not see a resolution anytime soon. There have been efforts by both sides to resolve it through talks. (with inputs from PTI, NDTV)
