India has lost its presence in 26 of the 65 Patrolling Points (PP) in Eastern Ladakh, which were patrolled regularly by the Indian forces, due to 'restrictive or no patrolling' by the forces, according to a research paper by a senior police officer, Indian Express reported Tuesday.
The document was prepared by Leh, Ladakh, Police officer P D Nitya, who said the Chinese have a strong economic and strategic need in the eastern border sector and they are aggressively building up their army to dominate the unfenced areas marked by the PPs on the Indian side to lay their claim on the area for further domination.
The research paper was submitted at last week's annual All-India Conference of Director Generals/Inspector Generals of Police in New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval attended the meeting.
"PLA has taken advantage of the buffer areas in the de-escalation talks by placing their best cameras on the highest peaks and monitoring the movement of our forces. This peculiar situation can be seen at Black top, Helmet top mountains in Chushul, at Demchok, at Kakjung, at Gogra hills in Hot springs and at Depsang plains near Chip Chap river," the report said.
"With the 'Salami Slicing' strategy they object to our movement even in the buffer zone, claiming it to be 'their' area of operation and then further ask us to move back to create more 'buffer' areas."
According to the report, the extremely harsh climate, difficult terrain, and remoteness of the area affect the morale and motivation of troops and officers on the ground, which only reminds them to start a reverse countdown of their deployment time and each unit wants to complete their tenure and return back to plains.
"In a longer duration, they don't see the utility to defend barren acres of land when no population and no economic activity is being carried out; therefore, the onus is on us to keep up their motivation and morale high. During an interaction with one senior officer whose unit is based right on the forward area, he shared that, if by retreating 400 meters back we can buy peace with the PLA for four years then it's worth it," the report states.
The Indian army, according to the report, has placed many restrictions on the movement of civilians and grazers near the forward areas on the Indian side, indicating by their 'play safe' strategy that they do not want to annoy PLA by giving them the chance to raise objections on the areas being claimed as disputed.
"Recently the deal of disengagement achieved at PP 15,16, by ISFs resulted in the loss of pasture lands at Gogra hills, while the same has been lost in the north bank, Kakjungareas. Over the years, this has resulted in the loss of livelihood and change in lifestyle patterns of border villages, which has led to migration. Shrinking grazing areas also leads to infighting within communities; for example, the Rebos of Chumur cannot go beyond Nepali Basti for grazing and come in conflict with the Korzok area Rebos who refuse to allow them in their grazing areas. These issues also badly affect the civil-military liaison," the report said.
As the government has not officially provided any details of the situation on the LAC at Ladakh, this paper from a local police official at a top-level conference is important evidence of the evolving situation on the ground since 2020, according to Carvan newspaper.
India, China Hold 17th Round Of Talks
Indian and Chinese militaries held 17th round of talks on December 22 over the Ladakh stand-off, according to a joint statement reported by Outlook India.
India and China are engaged in a military stand-off in Eastern Ladakh since early 2020 when Chinese soldiers allegedly crossed the de facto border, called the Line of Actual Control (LAC), and occupied India-claimed territories.
The Dec 22 statement says the talks were "frank and in-depth", keeping in line with the guidance provided by the leaders of the two countries to work for the resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest.
The last round of India-China military talks was held on July 17. This is the first round of talks since the Indian and Chinese military personnel clashed in the Tawang region of disputed Arunachal Pradesh on December 9. However, the statement does not mention the Tawang clash.
Though no breakthrough was achieved in the talks, the statement said the two sides would ensure peace and stability in the area until a solution is reached.
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