Sino- Standoffs

India and China share a border of running 3500km running from to Myanmar and at most of the places, it is not delineated and that ’s called as (LAC). The term ‘LAC’ gained legal recognition after the Sino-India border agreements signed in 1993 and 1996. The 1996 agreement states that no activity shall overstep the Line of Actual Control. In the previous few weeks, two places along the Indo-China border have emerged as hotspots, which are, and .

In the year 2020, there were a lot of times when the troops of both the army had violent clashes and suffered a lot of causalities. But this wasn’t the first time both the troops clashed with each other. China does not accept the Mc Mohan line as the legal delineation between India and China. It says that this was a demarcation agreed upon between erstwhile British Raj and Tibet. In late 1967, there were two skirmishes between Indian and Chinese forces in Sikkim. The first one was dubbed the " incident", and the other the "Chola incident", where the exchange of heavy fire took place at the Sikkim outpost. Once again, when India granted statehood to in February 1987, there was an escalation on the border, resulting in both sides to deploy additional troops in the area, raising tensions and fears of a new border war. After this, in 2013 the incident took place which lasted for three weeks along the Line of Actual Control, 30 km south-east of Daulat Beg Oldi in Ladakh region and . The matter was finally defused on 05 May 2013. India agreed to destroy some military structures along 250 km stretch near , which Chinese perceived to be threatening. Chumar was again highlighted in 2014 when China started the construction of the roads but India raised an objection to it as according to Border Understanding of 2005, it should have only started after prior intimation to India. As a result of this Indian troops rushed to stop the construction works and on the other hand, Chinese troops were also mobilized. After Chumar, at Demchuk also a standoff took place between both the troops, in which it objected to the construction of an irrigation canal by India. So, it was more of an impasse between the local civilians of both sides of the LAC. The Major standoffs that took place between both the troops were at Doklam (2017) and Galwan Valley (2020). The specific reason for the Doklam standoff was India’s objection to china’s construction of the road in the Sikkim sector of the border. China claimed that the area belonged to China as per the 1890 Sino-British Treaty. The main reason for India’s objection was because the road was constructed at a very close distance from India’s most vulnerable geographic chokepoint the ‘ CORRIDOR’ which connects NER with rest of India. And in 2020, the standoff took place at the Galwan Valley. The Galwan River flows from the disputed Aksai Chin region, which India’s claims as its own, to Xinjian region in China before entering Ladakh. China has built a stranglehold on a large part of the Galwan valley which includes a portion of Ladakh region. The Galwan valley has a strategic significance for India. Last year India completed the -Daulat Beg Oldie road which serves as the lifeline for servicing troops deployed in Sub-Sector North close to the crucial pass through which the China-Pakistan-Economic Corridor (CPEC) joins China with Pakistan via PoK. Chinese troops have entered Galwan valley and pitched tents, 3-4 km inside Indian Territory, which China claims to be their territory. Incidentally, Galwan valley was a flashpoint during the Sino-India conflict of 1962. Chinese presence in the Galwan valley threatens this important road that India has constructed. However, China claims that India has been doing “illegal” construction of defence facilities in this area which rightfully belongs to China. It is believed that nearly 5,000 to 10,000 soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army have been amassed in the ravine area with the military building makeshift arrangements for settling the troops and deployment of heavy military equipment and fighter aircraft in its forward bases is being reported. India must vigorously pursue its ‘Act East Policy by engaging all SE Asian nations, who have clashing interests with China in the South China Sea. Improvement of infrastructure, especially along the disputed sectors is extremely essential for swift deployment of troops during an exigency.

The newly commissioned 9.15-kilometre-long Dhola Sadiya Bridge across the Brahmaputra River, which is designed to carry the weight of 60-ton main battle tanks, connects Arunachal Pradesh with the North-eastern state of Assam has been built with the primary aim of strengthening India’s military prowess close to the disputed border with China. Militarily, India needs to improve its force level along the LAC and NE border with China. Towards this end, a new Mountain Corps is being raised to meet this explicit requirement. To appear more assertive and forceful in projecting its footprints, at the tactical level, renewed emphasis must be laid on patrolling and surveillance using satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and battle field surveillance radars.

Deployment of strategic assets, keeping the threat perception in mind, will serve as a serious deterrent and ‘a threat in being’, e.g. deployment of Agni V.

Notwithstanding the above, both armies disengaged from the disputed area and decided that The Chinese side will keep its troop presence in north bank of Pangong Lake to east of "Finger 8". Reciprocally, Indian troops will be based at their permanent base at Post near "Finger 3".

CDT ANKIT RAJ BISWAL OD/SDA/19/140052 4(O) CTC