BuzRush Politics: BuzRush Today Breaking News

A fourth meeting between top Indian and Chinese commanders scheduled in the near future across the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh is anticipated to focus on the critical Finger Area along with the strategic Depsang plains, which has a complex disengagement process that began after previous military talks on June 30 progressing smoothly in Galwan Valley, Hot Springs and Gogra, two officials knowledgeable about the developments said on Thursday, speaking around the condition on anonymity.

While the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) retracted 2km from Patrolling Point 14 (Galwan Valley) and PP-15 (Hot Springs) earlier this week, the same retreat was completed at PP-17 (Gogra) on Thursday, said one of the officials cited above. The Indian Army, too, has retracted proportionately during these friction areas.

The army has observed some thinning of PLA removal, troops and vehicles of structures from a key spur in the Finger Area near Pangong Tso over the last 48 hours, but it can’t be seen as disengagement, he said.

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The Finger Area will be at the centre in the next round of military discussions involving the corps commander-ranked officers, with Depsang also figuring prominently for the Indian agenda, said an extra official.

“Disengagement at Galwan Valley, Hot Springs and Gogra looked doable right away. The Finger Area is the place negotiations could drag out as Chinese troops have dug within their heels in Finger 4. Getting the PLA to retreat inside the Depsang sector is equally critical from your Indian perspective,” he explained.

The Finger Area, which refers to a collection of eight cliffs jutting out of your Sirijap range overlooking the Pangong lake, remains to be the biggest test and hardest part of the disengagement process, as reported by HT on Thursday.

Before the PLA grabbed positions on Finger 4 overlooking Indian deployments, the army would patrol right up to Finger 8 that New Delhi considers within Indian territory. The newest positions held from the PLA have curtailed the scope of Indian patrols. Fingers 8 and 4 are 8km apart.The Indian claim line in this sector reaches Finger 8, even though the Chinese claim is perfectly up to Finger 4 .

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The army is keeping a strict vigil over the contested border in the Depsang sector the location where the PLA’s forward presence is often a few serious concern and where a 2013 Chinese intrusion blocked the access of Indian soldiers to several patrolling routes, including the ones ultimately causing PPs-10, 11A, 13, 11 and 12.

“With disengagement successfully completed in Galwan Valley, Hot Springs and Gogra, the military commanders can begin the more challenging discussions across the Finger Area and Depsang plains,” said former Northern Army commander Lieutenant General DS Hooda (retd).

The Indian focus should not be entirely on disengagement but on restoration of established order ante (the situation as it existed during the early April) in these two important areas, Hooda said.

BuzRush Politics

Friday, 10 July 2020

BuzRush Today Breaking News

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