[Military build-up continues ‘like never before’ on both sides of 2,100-mile border despite high-level talks]
By Hannah
Ellis-Petersen in Delhi and Aakash Hassan in Ladakh
But those hoping Wednesday’s meeting
would help break a year-long stalemate during which 200,000 troops have built
up on both sides of the Himalayan frontier were to be left unsatisfied.
There was one point of agreement,
however. As Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister, noted, “relations between
India and China are
still at a low point”.
In June last year, following
several months of rising tensions along the India-China border in the Himalayan
region of Ladakh, 20 Indian soldiers and reportedly four Chinese soldiers were
killed in the deadliest clash between the two countries in more than
50 years. Forbidden from firing weapons, the two sides instead fought on the
icy mountain precipice of Galwan valley in medieval fashion, using spiked clubs
and engaging in hand-to-hand combat, with several soldiers falling to their
deaths.
The clash did not result in all-out
declarations of war, but pledges of de-escalation and multiple rounds of failed
military talks have instead been overshadowed by a year of troop, artillery and
infrastructure buildup on both sides of the 2,100-mile border unlike at any
other time in history, including when China invaded India in 1962.
Indian army officials allege the
Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is becoming more aggressive with every
passing day. Though recent skirmishes between the two sides have been denied by
the Indian government, army officials told the Guardian that the situation in
areas of eastern Ladakh including Galwan valley and Hot Springs remained
extremely tense.
“Every month there are two to three
face-offs in these areas,” said another army officer posted in the area, the
information corroborated by local police and intelligence officers.
“To avoid further escalations we
started fencing some areas around Galwan but Chinese objected to it and we had
to remove it,” said another officer.
The ministry of defence and the
military did not respond to requests for comment.
Indian army officers described the
military buildup on the border in Ladakh as “like never before”. Government
sources corroborated reports that an additional 50,000 troops, as well as
artillery and fighter planes, including the Russian-made MiG-21, had been
deployed.
In a sign of the shift in Indian
military priorities, some of the additional troops on the Chinese border,
including Ladakh and the states of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, have come from
the border with Pakistan, which for decades was India’s most turbulent
frontier.
The greatest test for both sides
was surviving the hostile winter, where temperatures dropped to below 40
degrees. Yet Indian officers spoke of proudly staying the course, even when it
got so cold that the fuel in the tanks froze. Despite the glacial temperatures,
the soldiers have to stay in tents that can be moved quickly.
“We should have prefabricated
living spaces given the harsh weather,” said an Indian army commander posted in
the region. “But due to the unpredictability of Chinese moves, we are relying
on tents as they can be relocated quickly whenever needed.”
While Indian army officers say they
cannot match the hightech Chinese infrastructure, they at times admitted to
copying their way of living. “For instance, we saw Chinese would dig trenches
and then put tents in them,” said an army officer. “We realised it helps warm
up the canopy and since then we have been doing that way.”
For locals in the Indian state of
Ladakh, who have spent a year witnessing soldiers, tanks, helicopters and heavy
artillery brought up along the frontier, fear remains palpable.
“I hope war never breaks out here,”
said Dolma Dorjay, who grew up in the village of Chushul near a sprawling army
base along the line of actual control [LAC], the unmarked disputed border
between India and China. “But the preparations seem to be happening for a war.”
Prior to the clash at Galwan,
Dorjay and most of the villagers, who are tribal Changpa cattle
herders, would take their livestock into the vast, sweeping valleys without
another thought of the border and would freely mingle with the shepherds from
the Chinese side. “We would trade cattle and carpets and more with the people
of the other side,” he said.
Sonam Tsering, another resident and
former local councillor of Chushul, said the situation along the border was the
most militarised anyone in the village could recall, with two armies appearing
to be poised for attack, particularly in areas of eastern Ladakh.
“Our elders say that men and
machinery were not deployed like this even in the 1962 war,” he said. “The army
base in Chushul has expanded multiple times. Now people are not allowed to go
near the border and tourists are banned from visiting.”
Durbuk is another strategic
military base in eastern Ladakh that has vastly expanded. The locals say that
hundreds of new tents have been pitched in recent months to accommodate more
and more arriving soldiers, while new structures have been put up to shield
tanks and bigger vehicles.
Deldan, who operates a guest house
in Durbuk village, described how “during the night, we see large convoys of
army trucks and tanks heading towards the border”.
In some of the tensest areas, a
buffer zone has been agreed between Indian and Chinese troops to prevent troops
coming to blows, and according to the Chinese foreign minister frontline troops
have “disengaged in the Galwan Valley and the Pangong Lake area”. But locals
say this does not reflect the reality on the ground and are dismissive of any
talk of de-escalation.
In the Pangong lake, locals say India
has not regained territory where the Chinese encroached. “The land which
belonged to us is now the buffer zone,” said Padma Yangdog, a resident of
Meerak, a village opposite an area of Chinese encroachment. “How have they
[Chinese troops] moved back?”
As made clear when Jaishankar and
Wang met at the sidelines of a gathering of foreign ministers in Tajikistan on
Wednesday, India and China still have starkly different views on the border
situation.
Jaishankar said it was only with
China’s de-escalation and disengagement from the border that formerly cordial
bilateral ties could be resumed. Wang, however, said that “the responsibility
does not lie with China” to resolve the issue, and appeared to call on India to
accept the current status quo in the interest of good relations. According to
Wang, despite the heavy troop presence, “the situation in the China-India
border area has generally been easing”.
Brahma Chellaney, a professor of
strategic studies at the Centre for Policy Research in Delhi, said it was clear
India and China “are now locked in an uneasy military stalemate, and the entire
frontier has become a hot border”.
“The Chinese tried to ward off
India through a frenzied military buildup but the Indians have refused to
buckle,” he said. “The fact that the Indians managed to stay put through the
harsh Himalayan winter makes it quite likely that this crisis is not going to
end anytime soon.”
According to Chellaney, “the only
way to break the stalemate is if the Chinese decide to start a war. But, as the
Chinese realise, even all-out conflict is likely to still end in another
stalemate.”
“With India refusing to back down,
the choice for China is to either quietly roll back its intrusions in areas
where the biggest standoffs are taking place,” he said, “or to let this
deadlock continue.”
