India-China meetings fail to ease stand-off

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 20

With meetings between Indian and Chinese middle-level military officials over the past two days failing to achieve any breakthrough, tension continues to simmer between the two sides along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh.

Troops on either side have been holding on to their respective positions along the north bank of the 135-km glacial lake Pangong Tso at an altitude of over 14,000 feet.

“Though there have been no fresh flare-ups, the situation continues to be tense,” said an official. Asked if a meeting took place along the LAC, an Army spokesperson said in New Delhi, “No comment is being made on the issue at present.”

Sources said the main issue at the north bank of Pangong Tso that China was objecting to was a road constructed by India between one of the eight mountain spurs that end at the lake. Each of the spur is identified as “finger” in military parlance and each ridgeline is separated by 2-5 km.

On the intervening night of May 5/6, troops from both the sides clashed, resulting in injuries to many soldiers.

India assumes the LAC to be at “finger 4” while China is learnt to be trying to push Indian troops back to “finger 2”, a distance of more than 10 km. Towards the east of “finger 4” is Srijap where pitched battles were fought during the India-China war in October-November 1962.

Sino ploy

• China is learnt to be trying to push Indian troops over 10 km back towards Indian territory
• It is objecting to a road built by India near the glacial lake Pangong Tso in eastern Ladakh