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发帖数: 1 | 5 Three weeks after the worst military clashes in decades, India and China
have begun the process of disengagement at contentious locations along the
disputed Line of Actual Control (LAC), a government source said on Monday.
The disengagement process, a work in progress, commenced after Special
Representatives (SRs) Ajit Doval and Wang Yi, tasked to hammer out a
solution to the boundary dispute, spoke by telephone on Sunday evening. The
Hindu had reported on Sunday that the SRs would hold talks to resolve
boundary tensions between the two countries.
In the first signs of de-escalation, Chinese troops moved back some distance
and dismantled tents at some locations along the LAC.
In the Galwan Valley, Chinese troops have shifted two kilometres from the
site of the June 15 violent clashes while some tents had been removed by the
PLA at Finger 4 area of Pangong Tso, government officials said on Monday.
“The PLA was seen removing tents and structures at Patrolling Point (PP) 14
. Some rearward movement of vehicles is seen at the general area of Galwan,
Hotsprings and Gogra,” the government source said. Without giving the
specific distances moved, the source said the pullback at each location
would be confirmed after verification.
Separate statements from the Indian and Chinese governments after Mr. Doval
and Mr. Wang’s talks suggested that both were keen to put an end to the
serious troop build-up along their contentious boundary. Both statements
stressed the need for a “complete” disengagement along the LAC.
At Pangong Tso, some tents have been removed from Finger 4 area and the PLA
has moved back some distance, said a second government source without
elaborating and added that details of the pullback had to be verified on the
ground.
Pangong Tso is one of the most contentious areas of the current stand-offs,
with the PLA moving about 8 km inside up to Finger 4. India’s claim is till
Finger 8 as per the alignment of the LAC.
“Chinese troops have shifted two km from the face-off site in Galwan.
Temporary structures being removed by both sides,” a senior government
official told The Hindu adding that a physical verification had also been
conducted.
The PLA had moved well within India’s perception of the LAC in the Galwan
Valley after the June 15 incident, when 20 soldiers were killed. India had
matched China’s presence with bunkers and temporary structures and the two
armies were in “eyeball to eyeball” positions.
As part of an understanding reached during the June 30 Corps Commander-level
talks, on Sunday, a survey was done to verify if China had acted on its
assurances.
A defence official said on the condition of anonymity that this was just the
initial step in the phased disengagement process. It was during the “de-
escalation” process on June 15 that the violent clash occurred in the
Galwan Valley. The Chinese have given no figures on their dead and wounded.
As reported, the two military commanders indicated that at first the de-
escalation would take place at all the friction points — Galwan, Pangong
Tso, Hot Springs — and then “depth areas” such as Depsang plains in the
north, where China had amassed troops, would be looked into.
On June 19, China’s Foreign Ministry said “the Galwan Valley was located
on the Chinese side of the LAC in the western section of the Sino-Indian
border”, suggesting it was making new claims in the area.
Watch | Galwan clash: what next for India and China? |
