China and India military leaders meet to reduce tensions in disputed border area

The commanders of the armed forces of China and India met on Sunday to plan for the separation of forces in areas of their conflict where fighting broke out, an Indian army spokesman reported.

After a two-month hiatus, the two military leaders met at Moldovan, in the zone Ladakh on the Chinese side of the border, said Colonel Sudhir Chamoli.

No further details were given. There was no statement from the Chinese side.

Since February, China and India withdrew units from disputed areas of Pangong Tso, Gogra and Galwan Valley, but they continue to maintain forces as part of a multidisciplinary deployment.

They also sent troops in Demchok and Depsangaccording to the Indian press. Both sides continue to deploy units to vanguard areas of Ladakh for second consecutive winter, in an area of ​​freezing temperatures.

Talks come after Indian commander expressed frustration over what he called huge deployment of soldiers and equipment by China.

“Yes, it is a worrying problem that the massive concentration of forces has occurred and continues to occur, and maintaining this type of deployment requires the development of certain infrastructures on the Chinese side ”, declared the general. MM Naravane Saturday.

“It means they (China) are here to stay.. We follow events closely, but if they are here to stay, we are also here to stay ”, added.

A long history of tensions

The conflict between India and China predates the formation of the former as an independent country. Since the time of the British Raj, there have been disputes over territorial boundaries. In 1914, British representatives made an agreement with the then-Tibetan Kingdom, which established the McMahon Line as a division.. But China, which would later occupy Tibet, has never recognized this pact and claims for itself about 90,000 square kilometers of territory.

After India’s independence, attempts to normalize bilateral relations quickly failed. In 1959, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru made an important official visit to Beijing, which ended up pushing positions apart rather than bringing them closer together.. When Nehru questioned the borders that appeared on official Chinese maps, Premier Zhou Enlai replied that his government did not accept the colonial border. Three years later, the Sino-Indian war breaks out.

After the Tibetan uprising of 1959, when India granted asylum to Dalai Lama, the political and spiritual leader of Tibet, there have been several skirmishes on the border. This prompted India to launch an offensive policy, which consisted of establishing outposts along the border, including north of the McMahon Line. After several unsuccessful diplomatic attempts, Chinese troops invaded and penetrated the Indian region of Ladakh on October 20, 1962.

Most of the fighting took place in extreme mountainous conditions, at altitudes above 4,000 meters and in temperatures below zero.. Due to the inaccessibility of the terrain, it had the particularity of being a modern war that took place entirely between ground forces, without the participation of military aviation.

The war ended when China declared a ceasefire on November 20, 1962. It was four weeks that killed thousands on the Indian side. Although Chinese forces withdrew, they managed to capture and hold the Aksai Chin, a strategic corridor connecting Tibet with western China. Delhi claims the entire region, as does the neighboring Shaksgam Valley in northern Kashmir.

Five years later, there was conflict at Nathu La, India’s highest mountain pass in the northeastern state of Sikkim., which is located between Bhutan, Chinese Tibet and Nepal. During a series of clashes, which included exchanges of artillery fire, around 80 Indian soldiers and up to 400 Chinese were killed.

In 1975 there was the last crossing in which gunfire and fatalities were recorded. It is known as the Tulung La Ambush. Four Indian soldiers were killed when a rifle patrol was ambushed by Chinese soldiers at this pass located in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. Delhi accused Beijing of entering Indian territory, but China denied the accusation.

From that moment on, 42 years of relative tranquility passed, until tensions reappeared in 2017. For months, India and China engaged in a high-altitude, non-gunshot clash in Bhutan’s Doklam region., after the Indian military sent troops to prevent China from building a highway in the region. The Doklam Plateau is strategic because it gives China access to the “chicken neck”, a thin strip of land that connects the northeastern states of India to the rest of the country. It is claimed by both China and Bhutan, an ally of India. The de-escalation came after lengthy high-level talks.

The pandemic was not enough for the parties to decide to suspend, at least for a time, their differences. The temperature started to rise in May 2020, after several Indian and Chinese soldiers were injured in high altitude handgun combat at the Sikkim state border. The Indian government claimed that Chinese troops had invaded the westernmost demarcation line of the Ladakh region and therefore decided to mobilize its soldiers in opposing positions.

(With information from the AP and AFP)

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