Troops are still holding positions on these strategic heights, they said on the condition of anonymity after the Chinese defence ministry announced in Beijing that the troops had started to disengage along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) near the salt-water lake.

The reports of withdrawal of the armoured elements from one of the multiple friction points in the East Ladakh sector comes nearly a fortnight after military commanders of the two armies agreed on January 24 to push for an early disengagement of their frontline troops.

In a statement published on the Chinese defence ministry website on 10 February, spokesperson Wu Qian said the frontline units of the Chinese and Indian armed forces have begun to disengage at Pangong lake on February 10 in line with the consensus reached at the 9th round of military commander-level talks.

The troops have begun to disengage “simultaneously and systematically”, Wu was quoted as saying in the statement. The Chinese defence ministry did not share details of the disengagement.

The defence and external affairs ministries in New Delhi have not issued a statement on the movement of the armoured elements.

People familiar with the developments confirmed that there had been some reduction but did not indicate any details. This is seen as the first move towards resolving the nine-month military standoff that started in May last year.

The 9th round of China-India Corps Commander Level meeting was held on the Chinese side of the Moldo-Chushul border meeting point on January 24.

At the meeting, according to a joint release issued the following day, the two sides had “…agreed to push for an early disengagement of the frontline troops. They also agreed to follow the important consensus of their state leaders, maintain the good momentum of dialogue and negotiation, and hold the 10th round of the Corps Commander Level Meeting at an early date to jointly advance de-escalation.”

“The two sides agreed to continue their effective efforts in ensuring the restraint of the frontline troops, stabilise and control the situation along the LAC in the Western Sector of the China-India border, and jointly maintain peace and tranquillity”.

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However, sources said the Chinese have agreed for complete withdrawal from other friction points including the Galwan valley, Hot Springs and Gogra post area in Eastern Ladakh.

“In the talks, the Chinese showed reluctance for complete withdrawal from Finger area as they want to maintain some elements in areas near Finger 8,” a source said.

In the areas near Finger four, the Chinese troops have started dismantling their infrastructure from Blacktop and Greentop, the sources said.
However, India has made it clear that it will not accept anything less than both sides going back to their permanent locations which existed in the April-May time frame.

The meeting between Corps commander-level officers including Lt Gen Harinder Singh lasted for close to 15 hours. It started on July 14 at 11:30 am and ended at 2 am on July 15, the sources said.

They said both sides will now monitor further disengagement by troops and verify the development in the next few days around July 21-22.
In the area in and around the Patrolling Point 17, the Chinese have apprehensions that after its withdrawal India might use the strategic heights under it for gaining a tactical edge there.

The Chinese have built several hardened barracks and shelters which would be dismantled by them during the withdrawal in that area.
In Patrolling Point 14, the Chinese have gone back substantially from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and adjoining area in PP-15.

The NSA, during his interaction with the Chinese side, had made it clear that both sides will have to move back to their permanent locations for the matter to be sorted out completely and to the satisfaction of both sides.

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Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to visit Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir on July 17-18. It is learnt that Chief of Northern Command Lt Gen YK Joshi has arrived in Delhi and it is expected that he would soon meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior government officials in order to apprise them about the situation along LAC.

Notably, the 14-hour-long fourth round of Corps Commander-level talks between India and China ended on Wednesday but sources said that during the talks China made it clear that it would not back off from Finger 4. Both India and China had reached an agreement to disengage in Galwan Valley, Hotsprings and Gogra and India has been demanding that Chinese troops must disengage from all the areas.

Keeping in mind the activities of Chinese army, Indian Army is on high alert and around 60,000 soldiers have been deployed in East Ladakh to stop the incursion of Chinese soldiers inside Indian territories. India has deployed Bhism tanks, Apache attack helicopters, Sukhoi fighter jets, Chinook and Rudra helicopters near the LAC to keep Chinese troops at bay.

Meanwhile, the China Study Group (CSG) headed by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval reviewed the outcome of the marathon 15-hour-long fourth round of Corps Commander-level talks between India and China on Thursday.

The CSG comprises the Cabinet Secretary, the Secretaries of Home, External Affairs and Defence as well as representatives of the Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Indian Navy. It will take a call on the ‘further course of action’ on the graded, mutual de-escalation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh – which may be a long-drawn process stretching into several weeks.

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The tension between the two sides at LAC escalated after the violent face-off between Indian and Chinese troops at Galwan Valley on the intervening night of June 15-16 that left 20 Indian soldiers dead. At least three rounds of Corps Commander talks were held between the two in an attempt to de-escalate tension in eastern Ladakh and finalise modalities for disengagement of troops from the sensitive region.

On July 6, the Chinese military withdrew its forces, including tents and vehicles by almost 1.5 km from three friction points — Galwan Valley, Gogra and Hot Spring sectors. Chinese’s PLA reportedly removed their tents and structures at Patrolling Point 14. Rearward movement of vehicles of the PLA was also removed at General area Galwan, Hotsprings and Gogra Post, official sources had added.

However, Army sources had on July 6 informed that Chinese heavy armoured vehicles were still present in the depth areas in the Galwan river area. “The Indian Army is monitoring the situation with caution,” Army sources had informed.

On July 7, a reduction of the PLA at the Pangong Tso Lake of eastern Ladakh took place. The sources had added that the disengagement in Patrolling Point 15 will finish by July 8 and that in Patrolling Point 17 Alpha in will finish in the next two days. In a bid to avoid accidental friction, patroling has been suspended in the disengaged area temporarily but both sides have not given up the right to patrol.

The Indian Army is also concerned that each step of disengagement process is easily reversible by Chinese PLA as long as they remain deployed in strength from Finger 4-8, which is around 8 km, patrolled by both India and China until now, along LAC.

In the last round of military talks held between the two-nation at Chushul sector on the Indian side of the LAC, India reiterated its demand for the pullback of Chinese troops from friction site along the LAC. According to sources, India had asked the Chinese side to return to pre-May 4 military positions along the LAC.

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The disengagement has been completed at PP-15 (Gogra Post/Hot Spring areas) where the troops have moved back by nearly two km from the line of actual control, government sources said. At PP-17 and PP-17A in the same area, it would take another day or two to finish the task.
PP-15 is the second friction point that was cleared by the two armies in the last two days after PP-14 that witnessed a bloody battle on June 15 between the troops leading to the death of 20 Indian soldiers and a significant number of Chinese troops. Satellite images also confirm the clearance.

On the northen banks of the Pangong Tso where the Chinese troops fortified their positions, sources said some more thinning of the People’s Liberation Army troops had taken place at Finger 4 up to which the Indian troops are restricted at the moment, but there is no sign of a definitive pull back yet.

Traditionally on the northern banks of the 135 km long lake, Indian troops used to patrol upto Finger 8, which is 8 km east of Finger 4.

Sources said the two armies were exploring yet another meeting of the senior military commanders to complete the verification process and decide on the future course of action. But no time schedule has been drawn yet.

The joint verification will assess the implementation of the disengagement process once the dismantling of temporary infrastructure and withdrawal of troops are completed. Besides the talks would also finalise the modalities for restoring normalcy and bringing back peace and tranquillity along the LAC after the disengagement exercise is completed.

At PP-14 and PP-15, a buffer zone has been created which no army is patrolling at the moment. Indian Army sources insist it was only a temporary measure necessary to avoid recurrence of any inadvertent clash between the troops.

“This is only a temporary step which would be in place till the disengagement process is complete. No permanent buffer zone has been created,” said an Army officer.

Sources said Indian Army would maintain its aggressive posturing along the LAC till the Chinese side cuts down on its significant build up in the depth areas on their side of the LAC.

Both sides brought in thousands of additional troops and weaponry including tanks and artillery guns to their rear bases as part of a build up following the face-off that began on May 5, even though increased Chinese presence along the LAC was noticed by mid-April.

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