In a strategically significant move, the Indian Army has gained a big advantage over the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) by successfully beating it to occupy all the strategic heights at the southern region of the Pangong Tso in Eastern Ladakh near the LAC. The Chinese army brass is furious at the way PLA has been checkmated by the Indian Army’s pro-active military maneuver to occupy multiple heights near the southern bank of Pangong Tso, Rezang La, Reqin La, and Spanggur Gap on August 29-30.
The Indian Army's special operations battalion known as Special Frontier Force was swiftly pressed into action in the area and made its move on the intervening night of 29 and 30 August. The special operations battalion moved in the night and occupied the heights near the area where Chinese troops are camped with heavy surveillance and defense systems.
"Height occupied by Indian Army troops including a special operations battalion is south of Southern bank of Pangong Tso near Thakung. Height was lying dormant and can give strategic advantage to the side which holds it for controlling the southern bank of lake and areas around it", says the report.
It was earlier reported that China had unilaterally tried to alter the agreed status quo in the region by taking military action on the southern bank of Pangong Tso lake. An alert Indian Army thwarted China's nefarious designs and strengthened India's positions.
At the same time, brigade commander-level meetings have already been held in Chushul/Moldo to resolve the issue but the talks have not yielded any result. The PLA Western Theater Command had earlier said that Indian troops violated the consensus reached "multi-level talks" between the two countries.
"Indian troops have violated the consensus reached the multi-level talks between India and China and again crossed the line of actual control at the border on Monday and purposely launched provocations. India's move has seriously violated China's territorial sovereignty, severely undermined the peace and stability of the Sino-Indian border area, and rebelled against this. China strongly opposed this,” said Zhang Shuili, a spokesperson for the People's Liberation Army Western Theatre Command.
India and China are engaged in a standoff since April-May over the transgressions by the Chinese army in multiple areas including the Finger area, Galwan valley, Hot springs, and Kongrung Nala.
While efforts are underway to resolve the ongoing border dispute, India has rejected China's suggestion to disengage equidistantly from the Finger area in Eastern Ladakh.
Indian troops have captured an important Chinese military post after allegedly fighting off an attempt by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to occupy further Indian territory in the disputed border region of Ladakh. On Saturday evening, around 500 Chinese troops had tried to cross into Spanggur, a narrow valley near the village of Chushul and three hours of hand-to-hand combat ensued. “India is committed to border security under PM Narendra Modi and we hope China will come for a peaceful border solution now,” the source added.
Units from the Indian Army and troopers from the secretive SFF (Special Frontier Force, A Tibetan Personnel Battalion) snatched back heights from where Chinese troops were present barely a few hundred meters. The PLA was not expecting this move and was caught by surprise. At 15:00 hours, on August 30th, the PLA tried its best but failed horribly. The peaceful followers of venerable Buddha finally got an opportunity to vent the rage they had buried in their hearts for so long.
The PLA made a second provocative move on August 31 but the Indian Army took “timely defensive action” to thwart the Chinese attempt to unilaterally alter the status quo in the sector, the ministry of external affairs said on Tuesday. The army is on high alert to deal with any adventurism by the PLA in the sector, where both armies have concentrated a significant number of soldiers, tanks, and artillery pieces; and are within each other’s rifle range, said an official.
While India said on Monday that it had pre-empted China’s “provocative military movements” to change the status quo along the LAC on the lake’s southern bank, China claimed that the Indian Army “broke the consensus” reached talks and “illegally crossed the line again near the south bank of Pangong Lake and Reqin Pass, making a blatant provocation and causing tension.”
The Indian Army is holding a series of positions near Black Top (a hill feature) and on Rezang La and Reqin pass that are on the Indian side of the LAC and allow the army to completely dominate the area and keep an eye on Chinese military activity. Specialist mountain troops played a key role in taking these heights and one of them was killed in a landmine blast.
However, the latest developments have deepened the trust deficit between the two sides and dealt a blow to efforts to reduce tensions in the Ladakh sector, where both armies have deployed almost 100,000 soldiers and weaponry in their forward and depth areas.
