India and China recently agreed to pull back their forces from some points. However, the political-level talks and the military-level talks appear to be the two sides of a coin. According to a report, the Indian Army has decided to continue its forward post-deployment against China on key LAC points in Sikkim, eastern Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh for the fifth successive winter. India has so far avoided falling into China’s trap of the waiting game and maintaining its strategic troops deployment has deprived the PLA from making any further unjust advancements.
A Time of India report said that the Indian Army will go full-throttle with its troop deployment along the harsh LAC terrains as the ‘trust deficit’ on the border with PLA leadership remains high. The report said that while there are signs of narrowing differences at the political level, but the same is yet to have a trickle-down effect at the military levels.
Why The Trust Deficit
According to various recent reports and satellite images, China has continued to build permanent military infrastructure as well as bridges on its side of the LAC including in the Indian areas in its occupancy since 1962 and before. This has sent alarm bells ringing into the rank and files of the Indian defence establishment. The reports also claimed that China continues to deploy more forces on its forward military positions along the 3,488-km LAC. It shows that despite the political level talks, the PLA is not returning to its peacetime locations.
According to the report, Indian Army General Upendra Dwivedi and the commanders-in-chief of the seven army commands will review the operational situation and preparedness along the LAC in the second week of October.
What India Wants
India is keeping a close eye on every development taking place on the Chinese side of the LAC. India feels that the first step of de-escalation will begin only if China disengages from the Depsang and Demchok points. Due to confrontations at Depsang and Demchok and the creation of buffer zones at Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso-Kailash Range and Gogra-Hot Springs have resulted in a situation where Indian troops are not able to access 26 of their 65 patrolling points between Karakoram Pass in the north and Chumar in eastern Ladakh, reported TOI.