August 24, 2020
Ladakh Standoff:
PLA troops continue building infrastructure along LAC
By Abdus-Sattar Ghazali
China's intension of disengaging from the troop confrontation in eastern Ladakh seems to be very meek as it appears to be further digging in its heels by continuing to build roads, bridges, helipads among other military infrastructure along the Line of Actual Control in its bid to cover for its troops along the LAC, the Times Now Digital reported on Sunday.
Officers said China is doing everything from building roads close to the LAC, augmenting the capacity of its airbases at Hotan and Kashgar in Xinjiang and Gargunsa, Lhasa-Gonggar and Shigatse in Tibet to laying optical fibre cables for its troops at faceoff sites in Pangong Tso and Gogra-Ho Spring areas. Rounds of diplomatic and military talks so far have failed to deescalate in the rival military build-up in Depsand PlainspDaulat Beg Oldie sector.
The military confrontation between India and China in eastern Ladakh has now lasted for more than 100 days.
"China is indulging in ping-pong tactics by shuttling the ball between diplomatic and military talks, without any serious attempt at conflict resolution," a senior military official told Times Now.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday held a two-hour-long meeting with NSA Ajit Doval, CDS Bipin Rawat and the three service chiefs General MM Naravane, Admiral Karambir Singh and Air Chief Marshal BKS Bhadauria over the same.
India has counter-deployed to match the build-up of troops, artillery, tanks and other heavy weaponry by the PLA in all the three sectors of the 3,488-km long LAC stretching from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.
Several rounds of diplomatic and military talks have so far failed to break the deadlock in the stalled troop disengagement in Pangong Tso and Gogra as well as de-escalation in the rival military build-ups in the strategically-located Depsang PlainsDaulat Beg Oldie (DBO) sector.
China opposes unilateral actions that complicate Kashmir situation
Meanwhile, China has told Pakistan it opposes any "unilateral" action that complicates the situation in Kashmir, after Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi briefed his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi of his country's concerns regarding the situation in Kashmir, the Hindustan Times reported on Friday.
The Kashmir issue, as was widely anticipated, figured in the second strategic dialogue of the Chinese and Pakistani foreign ministers in the southern province of Hainan on Friday. Qureshi arrived in China on Thursday for the talks against the backdrop of the India-China border standoff.
"The Pakistani side briefed the Chinese side on the situation in Jammu & Kashmir, including its concerns, position and current urgent issues," said a joint statement issued at the end of the two-day strategic dialogue.
"The Chinese side reiterated that the Kashmir issue is a dispute left over from history between India and Pakistan, which is an objective fact, and that the dispute should be resolved peacefully and properly through the UN Charter, relevant Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements. China opposes any unilateral actions that complicate the situation," it said.
China and Pakistan believe a "peaceful, stable, cooperative and prosperous South Asia was in common interest of all parties", the statement said. It added: "Parties need to settle disputes and issues in the region through dialogue on the basis of equality and mutual respect."
China had issued a similar statement immediately after India scrapped Kashmir's special status in August last year. Since then, it has sought to raise the Kashmir issue at the UN Security Council on Pakistan's behalf several times, but without much success.
According to the joint statement, both sides also "agreed on continuing their firm support on issues concerning each other's core national interests".
Pakistan's territorial integrity
Beijing told Islamabad that China "firmly supports Pakistan in safeguarding its territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence, independently choosing a development path based on its national conditions, striving for a better external security environment and playing a more constructive role on international and regional affairs".
In an official statement, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, "As in the past, we categorically reject the reference to Jammu & Kashmir in the joint press release of 2nd round of China-Pakistan Foreign Ministers' Strategic Dialogue. Jammu & Kashmir is an integral & inalienable part of India."
"We expect the parties concerned not to interfere in matters that are internal affairs of India," added the
Srivastava further stressed that India has repeatedly conveyed its concerns to both China and Pakistan on the projects in "so-called" China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which are in the territory of India that has been illegally occupied by Pakistan.
"We resolutely oppose actions by other countries that change the status quo in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and call on the parties concerned to cease such actions," he added.
China doesn't recognize the western border line in Ladakh
Tellingly, China doesn't recognize the India-China western border line in Ladakh. India considers the LAC to be 3,488 km long, while the Chinese consider it to be only around 2,000 km, Sushant Singh of Hindustan Times wrote on July 30, 2020. It is divided into three sectors: the eastern sector which spans Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, the middle sector in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, and the western sector in Ladakh.
The major disagreements are in the western sector. After India's devastating defeat in the 1962 War, the Chinese said they had withdrawn to 20 km behind the LAC of November 1959. During the Doklam crisis in 2017, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson urged India to abide by the 1959 LAC.
During his visit to China in May 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposal to clarify the LAC was rejected by the Chinese.
Interestingly, perception of Line of Control is not the same. India's claim line is the line seen in the official boundary marked on the maps as released by the Survey of India, including both Aksai Chin and Gilgit-Baltistan. In China's case, it corresponds mostly to its claim line, but in the eastern sector, it claims entire Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet.
Abdus Sattar Ghazali is the Chief Editor of the Journal of America (www.journalofamerica.net) email: asghazali2011 (@) gmail.com
The Journal of America Team:
Editor in chief:
Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Senior Editor:
Prof. Arthur Scott
Special Correspondent
Maryam Turab
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