indian_foxhound
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NEW DELHI: India may be
working the diplomatic hotlines
with China, but parallels are
already being drawn between
the ongoing 10-day military
standoff in Ladakh and the Sumdorong Chu incident of
1986-87, which required "a
major show of force and resolve"
to settle matters amicably. With "no breakthrough" being
achieved in the second flag
meeting between the Indian and
Chinese armies held on Tuesday,
the defence establishment and military operations directorate here went into a
hurdle to discuss "various options", including
further troop reinforcements to the region, till late
in the evening. The Army may well deploy additional troops in
the region if there is no de-escalation over the
next few days, said sources. "The flag meeting, held at Spanggur gap between
Daulat Beg Oldie and Chushul, lasted for around
five hours. Our side was led by a brigadier,
Chinese had a senior colonel. We told them this
intrusion was simply unacceptable. But they
accused us of aggressive patrolling. There was no concrete outcome, much like the first flag
meeting on April 18," said a source. Currently, India has positioned only 50-60
soldiers from the Ladakh Scouts infantry
battalion, which specializes in mountain warfare,
and some ITBP personnel across the new camp
set up by the People's Liberation Army (PLA)
almost 18km inside Indian territory in Depsang Bulge area of Ladakh last week. "There are 32 PLA troops there, including three
officers. Our soldiers, stationed around 100-200
metre away at an altitude of around 16,300-feet,
have been doing 'banner drills' (waving banners
and placards at the Chinese troops to show it is
Indian territory). We are not moving more soldiers to the exact spot to avoid escalation," he
added. This is the first time since the Sumdorong Chu
incident that PLA troops, who regularly cross
over the unresolved 4,057-km Line of Actual
Control (LAC) to exert pressure and lay claim to
disputed areas, have not returned back to their
base. Instead, they have set up a camp in tents that led
to the ongoing face-off. This "unusual behaviour"
has led certain quarters in the defence
establishment to speculate whether it would
require another Operation Falcon\Chequerboard-
like endeavour to resolve the tangle. It was in late 1986 that the Indian Army had
launched Operation Falcon after PLA's "deep
intrusions" into the Sumdorong Chu Valley of
Arunachal Pradesh in June that year. India, had
even then, lodged strong diplomatic protests, but
China had continued to construct helipads and other permanent structures in the area to sustain
its troops. With the then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping even
threatening to teach India a lesson akin to the
one in 1962, Army chief Gen K Sundarji had air-
lifted an infantry brigade under Operation Falcon
to Zimithang close to Sumdorong Chu. India had also conducted a large Army-IAF
exercise in the northeast in early-1987, even as
the two sides reinforced force-levels in the
region. Finally, towards mid-1987, intense
diplomatic engagement had led to the face-off
being resolved. Incidentally, the forward deployment of troops under Operation Falcon
continues to this day.
http://www.timesofindia.com/india/I...-face-off-with-China/articleshow/19701542.cms
working the diplomatic hotlines
with China, but parallels are
already being drawn between
the ongoing 10-day military
standoff in Ladakh and the Sumdorong Chu incident of
1986-87, which required "a
major show of force and resolve"
to settle matters amicably. With "no breakthrough" being
achieved in the second flag
meeting between the Indian and
Chinese armies held on Tuesday,
the defence establishment and military operations directorate here went into a
hurdle to discuss "various options", including
further troop reinforcements to the region, till late
in the evening. The Army may well deploy additional troops in
the region if there is no de-escalation over the
next few days, said sources. "The flag meeting, held at Spanggur gap between
Daulat Beg Oldie and Chushul, lasted for around
five hours. Our side was led by a brigadier,
Chinese had a senior colonel. We told them this
intrusion was simply unacceptable. But they
accused us of aggressive patrolling. There was no concrete outcome, much like the first flag
meeting on April 18," said a source. Currently, India has positioned only 50-60
soldiers from the Ladakh Scouts infantry
battalion, which specializes in mountain warfare,
and some ITBP personnel across the new camp
set up by the People's Liberation Army (PLA)
almost 18km inside Indian territory in Depsang Bulge area of Ladakh last week. "There are 32 PLA troops there, including three
officers. Our soldiers, stationed around 100-200
metre away at an altitude of around 16,300-feet,
have been doing 'banner drills' (waving banners
and placards at the Chinese troops to show it is
Indian territory). We are not moving more soldiers to the exact spot to avoid escalation," he
added. This is the first time since the Sumdorong Chu
incident that PLA troops, who regularly cross
over the unresolved 4,057-km Line of Actual
Control (LAC) to exert pressure and lay claim to
disputed areas, have not returned back to their
base. Instead, they have set up a camp in tents that led
to the ongoing face-off. This "unusual behaviour"
has led certain quarters in the defence
establishment to speculate whether it would
require another Operation Falcon\Chequerboard-
like endeavour to resolve the tangle. It was in late 1986 that the Indian Army had
launched Operation Falcon after PLA's "deep
intrusions" into the Sumdorong Chu Valley of
Arunachal Pradesh in June that year. India, had
even then, lodged strong diplomatic protests, but
China had continued to construct helipads and other permanent structures in the area to sustain
its troops. With the then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping even
threatening to teach India a lesson akin to the
one in 1962, Army chief Gen K Sundarji had air-
lifted an infantry brigade under Operation Falcon
to Zimithang close to Sumdorong Chu. India had also conducted a large Army-IAF
exercise in the northeast in early-1987, even as
the two sides reinforced force-levels in the
region. Finally, towards mid-1987, intense
diplomatic engagement had led to the face-off
being resolved. Incidentally, the forward deployment of troops under Operation Falcon
continues to this day.
http://www.timesofindia.com/india/I...-face-off-with-China/articleshow/19701542.cms
