Chinese troops up ante, erect another tent at incursion site

NEW DELHI: The Chinese soldiers, who have intruded as much as 19 km deep into eastern Ladakh, have pitched one more tent near the face-off site in Depsang Valley, taking to five the number of such structures erected after the incursion on April 15 and denting government’s assessment that the standoff was a localized affair and would be resolved soon.
The Chinese intruders also ramped up the provocation by waving banners proclaiming the territory as their own. “You are in Chinese side,” screamed the Chinese banners in what appeared to be tit-for-tat response against the Indian troops carrying out banner drills in the area to tell the Chinese troops that they had intruded into Indian territory.
The tent and the banner seemed to challenge India’s assessment that the crisis may blow over by May 9 when external affairs minister Salman Khurshid is set to visit Beijing.
The People’s Liberation Army troops numbering over 30 have also been spotted using one light Humvee-like four-wheel vehicle, one six-wheel troop carrying vehicle and one heavy eight-wheel truck between the face-off site with Indian troops and their tents 500 metres to the east. They also have two sniffer-guard dogs suitable for the 16,300-feet altitude.
Although the Chinese troops have not engaged in offensive manoeuvres, their staying put questions the assessment of the PMO and the external affairs ministry that the intrusion was a localized affair: result of overzealousness on the part of a local commander. If that was indeed the case, the springing of a new tent showed that the Chinese leadership was yet to rein in a “rogue” commander in the Chinese ranks.
Indeed, the “deep’’ incursion was increasingly looking like a “well-planned exercise’’, with the Chinese troops having adequate supplies for the long haul, that could not have taken place without the green signal right from the top in Beijing. China is insisting that India dismantle some of its bunkers and forward posts in Chumar and Fukche in eastern Ladakh but New Delhi considers them to be well within its perception of territory.
The fresh evidence of China’s brazenness came on a day when the simmering anger over the incursion boiled over in Parliament, setting serious limits for any decision to maintain “business-as-usual” stance with a neighbour whose ever-increasing ambition and bellicosity have been causing jitters to its neighbours.
“We are restricting our troops from Ladakh Scouts and ITBP to just about 50 to 60 at the site to prevent any escalation. If they increase their force-levels, we will have to do the same,’’ an Indian official said.
The Indian government has been trying hard to play it down as a “localised problem’’ -- without any larger politico-strategic message – which had erupted due to a differing perception of where exactly the Line of Actual Control lies.
The military standoff is the worst such incident between the two armies on the LAC since the Sumdorong Chu incident of 1986 in Arunachal Pradesh, which required a major “show of force’’ to resolve matters.
This time, too, the Army has provided a range of options to the political leadership. But the government and its China Study Group, led by national security advisor Shivshankar Menon, does not want to up the ante at this stage, preferring to offer China “time and space’’ for its unilateral withdrawal of troops.
After the first two flag meetings held at the level of an Indian brigadier and a Chinese senior colonel on April 18 and 23 failed to break the impasse, with the two sides ending up just accusing each other of aggressive patrolling and building border infrastructure, India has refrained from agreeing to a third such meet between the local commanders.
Instead, it is working the diplomatic levers and a bilateral boundary mechanism to resolve the matter before Khurshid heads to Beijing in preparation for Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to India on May 20.
With the military standoff entering the third week, many however believe it is unlikely that the Chinese will “accept a loss of face’’ without extracting some concessions. The unified commanders’ conference here on Tuesday is slated to discuss the incursion, even as defence secretary Shashikant Sharma will also brief the parliamentary standing committee on defence.