Indian Army deployed along LAC as Chinese troops make second 'provocative action' to change status quo
Turning the tables for the first time since the Sino-Indian stand-off began in eastern Ladakh in May, Indian Army troops have positioned themselves at least on four dominating heights on the southern banks of the Pangong lake to keep an eye on some of the People’s Liberation Army positions, even as PLA troops made a second “provocative action” to change the status quo.
“On August 31, even as the ground commanders of the two sides were in discussions to de-escalate the situation, the Chinese troops again engaged in provocative action. Due to the timely defensive action, the Indian side was able to prevent these attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
While the outcome of the Brigadier level meeting at Chushul for the second successive day remained inconclusive, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at a high-level review meeting in the capital on Tuesday told the armed forces to fortify their positions and defend the territory.
The second flag meeting between ground commanders took place in the wake of a second Chinese provocative action on August 31, which was thwarted once again by the Indian troops.
This happened a day after the PLA troops made their first attempt to alter the status quo on the Line of Actual Control.
Sources said alert Indian soldiers outranked the Chinese as they climbed to the ridge line at an elevation of 16000 ft on southern banks of the 135 km boomerang shaped lake within three hours to occupy the heights from where they can keep an eye on the Spanggur gap and Spanggur garrison near Chushul.
The quick action cornered the PLA troops who were on the slopes as they lost the dominating heights.
The Chinese did something very similar on the northern banks of the Pangong Tso that witnessed a face-off between the Indian and PLA soldiers in May. After mutually agreeing on disengagement from the Finger 4 area, the PLA moved out of the base camp but kept the troops on the ridgeline to watch out for any Indian movement.
While tensions were running high in the area after Indian troops foiled the two Chinese attempts to occupy the heights, Indian Army sources said there were no physical fights between the troops. The sources also denied any incident of firing.
At the review meeting, the Director General of Military Operation gave a detailed presentation on the Ladakh scenario and shared various options on how the situation might unfold in the coming days. The forces have been instructed to maintain a high operational alert.
The review took place a day before Singh leaves for Moscow on a three-day visit to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Defence Ministers’ meeting during his visit.
While the Chinese Defence Minister will also be attending the SCO meet, no bilateral talk is scheduled.