Ladakh standoff: Clear view of why China isn't budging emerges
A senior Army source said the disengagement process had kicked off, but it could take time for the Chinese to actually pull back military vehicles and camps massed close to the LAC. Satellite imagery from Sunday (June 28) confirm that there has been no backward movement of Chinese positions across the LAC, with heavy vehicles, earthmoving equipment and camps remaining where they were.
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Shiv Aroor
New Delhi
June 28, 2020
UPDATED: June 28, 2020 21:03 IST
Shiv Aroor
✔@ShivAroor
Clear Chinese build-up at PP14, Galwan Valley. Chinese debris on June 16, return of Chinese camps visible on June 22. Latter image shows tentage + gun positions (marked). Images via
@detresfa_. Important to see what has happened in 2 days since Lt Gen talks.
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Government and Army officials are clear that the positions seen at the bend in the Galwan River since June 22 are Chinese. The Indian Army was aware of the build-up long before commercial satellite imagery revealed the situation, though developments on the ground are now part of a larger effort to disengage, and therefore, no combat action has been taken by the Indian side. While Chinese troop numbers solely at the river bend complex have reduced almost completely since June 25, the structures remain.
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Image credit: DETRESFA_
A senior Army source said the disengagement process had kicked off, but it could take time for the Chinese to actually pull back military vehicles and camps massed close to the LAC. Satellite imagery from Sunday (June 28) confirm that there has been no backward movement of Chinese positions across the LAC, with heavy vehicles, earthmoving equipment and camps remaining where they were.
While Chinese duplicity in implementing mutually made pledges has already been established, the Chinese Army's refusal to de-induct forward-deployed vehicles and troops is not coming as a surprise. While the Indian Army has mobilised more than adequately in frontline and support positions in the Galwan Valley, including mountain squads manning at least three vantage heights overlooking the river bend, it is something else that is compelling the Chinese to dig their heels in -- a concerted, dogged effort by the Indian side to complete infrastructure work.
From bridges and culverts across the Galwan nearer to the confluence, including a bailey bridge built in record time following the bloodshed, the Indian side has made it openly clear to the Chinese that the Indian military will continue to execute infrastructure work, including the crucial highway into north Ladakh on the west bank of the Shyok River.
At least four border road projects have picked up in the last few days, with labour arriving from outside Ladakh. Directives from the political leadership are clear: there will be no compromise on infrastructure work, both civil and military, and, while talks continue with the Chinese side, there is no question of slowing down on roadworks on Indian territory.
A sign of the Indian Army's determination in staying deployed and finishing bridge projects also brought with it a reminder of the occupational perils of operating in such difficult terrain: two Indian Army personnel -- Naik Sachin More and Lance Naik Saleem Khan drowned in the freezing Shyok River in separate accidents. As India Today has reported, the deaths are being treated as battle casualties since they were deployed in a combat zone in an emergent situation.
In the government's view, the reaction of Indian Army on June 15 to Chinese provocations, combined with the decision not to pause a single border infrastructure project, have sent out a clear message to the Chinese that aggression will be met with strength, if necessary on Chinese turf. India Today's account of the June 15 clash remains the most detailed account of the incident, and the only one so far based on the Army's tactical debrief of those involved in the clash.