New Delhi: The Chinese People’s Liberation Army is finally vacating the Finger 4 area on the northern bank of Pangong lake that it had occupied last year and changed the status quo on the Line of Actual Control with India.
The Chinese troops are dismantling shelters and removing other structures they had built up during the occupation.
This is happening as per the disengagement agreement between India and China. The agreement states that Chinese troops will move back to Finger 8 and Indian troops will pull back to the Dhan Singh Thapa post between Finger 2 and 3 of the north bank of Pangong lake.
Further, there would be a temporary moratorium on military activities, including patrolling in the traditional areas.
The mountain spurs jutting into the lake are referred to as ‘Fingers’ in military parlance. The north bank of the lake is divided into 8 fingers. India has claimed its territory till Finger 8 and China dispute its claims till Finger 4.
There have been regular face-offs between the two armies between Finger 4 and Finger 8, a distance of eight kilometres, on the northern bank of the lake.
A senior government official said there has been a considerable thinning of troops from Finger 4. The official also said that the PLA is removing its boats from the lake. China has deployed a lot of men and materiel at Finger 4 and south of the lake to alter the status quo at the LAC.
Before the tensions last year, boats were deployed beyond Finger 8 of the lake. Once withdrawal happens, patrolling will be resumed only when both sides reach an agreement in diplomatic and military talks that would be held subsequently.
Further, Indian and Chinese troops are also falling back from eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation positions on the south bank of the lake. On the southern bank of the lake, tanks that were separated by less than 100 metres have been pulled back by both countries’ forces.
India and China are engaged in a nearly 10-month-long military standoff at the Line of Actual Control. The confrontations began on the north bank of Pan gong lake, both in the waters and the bank as Chinese incursions increased in early May last year.
The confrontation later spilled over to the southern bank following which the Indian Army occupied crucial heights irking the Chinese that led to incidents of gunshots being fired in the air.
Meanwhile, disengagement by the Indian army and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Pangong Tso has led to an easing of tensions at Naku La in Sikkim, which saw clashes between Indian and PLA soldiers last month.
This incident took place at Naku La area at a height of over 5,000 meters on January 20 when Chinese soldiers attempted to intrude into the Indian territory but were pushed back.
The Army clarified it was a minor face-off that was resolved by local commanders as per established protocols. The Naku La episode was the second such incident in the eastern sector in less than a year.
Four Indian soldiers and seven Chinese troops suffered injuries during a May 9, 2020, confrontation that involved around 150 soldiers.
While the Modi government is tight-lipped about Naku La, Hindustan Times, after talking to top military commanders and diplomats, has learnt that the just like the Pangong Tso disengagement, the easing of tensions on Naku La has been dictated by the highest levels in Beijing with a renewed effort to build trust and normalise relations.
The decision-making authority in the PLA’s case is the Central Military Commission headed by President Xi Jinping, who is also the commander-in-chief of China’s defence forces.
Quoting a former army chief, the report says: “The speed at which the PLA has moved its troops beyond Finger 8 on the north bank of Pangong Tso towards Srijap plains and beyond as well as withdrawal of no less than 220 Chinese light tanks from south banks of Pangong Tso clearly shows that the instructions have come from the highest level in Beijing.”
Officials said the disengagement process, which began Wednesday, was not sudden but had actually been under discussion since September, the same month that the Indian and Chinese Foreign and Defence Ministers met in Russia.
Since then, the sources added, there had been several rounds of discussion during which both India and China eased their stands.
Permanent posts of both sides at the north bank of Pangong Tso are longstanding and well-established. On the Indian side, it is Dhan Singh Thapa Post near Finger 3 and on the Chinese side, east of Finger 8.