×
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Will China abide by agreement?

Last Updated 24 September 2020, 18:22 IST

Although the much-needed breakthrough in the border stalemate continues to remain elusive, India and China have taken a step forward towards keeping a lid on escalating tensions along the Line of Actual Control. At the sixth round of talks between their military commanders, they agreed “to stop sending more troops to the frontline” and to avoid” unilaterally” changing the status quo along their disputed border. Since April-May, China has been amassing troops and military equipment along the LAC and followed that up with occupying land on the Indian side of the disputed border. In response, India has been building up its forces, too. The two sides have been racing to match each other’s deployment, creating a volatile and dangerous situation along the border. The agreement to halt the further build-up of force levels is welcome as it could halt the spiralling deployment by the two countries in the Himalayan heights. The agreement freezes force levels along the LAC. It appears to be a first step towards maintaining the status quo, even as winter takes hold of the border areas. Whether this will benefit India in the medium and long-term will depend on our own force levels and on whether they are in advantageous positions in the mountains. If the disparity is in China’s favour and has been frozen by the deal reached on Monday, it would be an unstable situation that Beijing could be tempted to exploit in the coming weeks.

A standstill of sorts has been put in place along the LAC, but this must not lull the Indian Army into complacency. In recent months, the Chinese have repeatedly violated agreements, walked away from agreements within days, if not hours of them being struck. This was the case at Galwan Valley, for instance, when the PLA quietly returned to the area days after agreeing to pull back troops from the areas. India must guard against a repeat of such an experience.

It is becoming more and more evident that Indian troops will have to remain deployed in the icy Himalayas through the brutal winter months. An agreement to put a lid on force levels may limit the number of soldiers who will be exposed to the fierce weather conditions in the mountains but it will not give much comfort to those who are already deployed there. As China persists with its expansionist designs in the Himalayas, soldiers, both Indian and its own, are having to bear the brunt.

ADVERTISEMENT
(Published 24 September 2020, 18:05 IST)

Follow us on

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT