India-China Disengagement Process: What Matters Is The Ground Geality As Disengagement Is Easier Said Than Done

Mumbai: Indian and Chinese troops have begun to disengage at Demchok and Depsang Plains, the two remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh, and this process is likely to get completed by October 28-29, Army sources said on Friday.

Disengagement is a process in which the soldiers, who have been face to face in these areas for the last four and a half years, will move away from each other to pre-designated areas, probably their temporary bases, in a phased and verifiable manner, thereby reducing the chance of a situation spiralling out of control or escalating. A case in point is Galwan where Indian troops and Chinese clashed with each other resulting in deaths on both sides in June 2020.

During the process of disengagement they will un-pitch their tents and take their military and other gear and fall back, palpably reducing tensions ahead of another harsh winter in those inhospitable areas.

Disengagement cannot happen if patrolling arrangements have not been worked out already. The patrolling will begin once the disengagement process is complete, and that includes the agreement having been reached on troop strength for the patrols, the frequency and other details, in such a manner as to ensure that there are no face-offs. It will require close co-ordination and continuous monitoring.

Disengagement in Demchock and Depsang will give Indian troops easier access to Depsang Plains and Demchok, both of which had been blocked. In the Depsang Plains the Chinese are thought to have intruded as much as around 20 km, denying access to the Raki Nallah, a stream that connects to the plain and the patrolling points there. Troops patrol up to patrolling points that mark the area of actual control.

Since the Line of Actual control is undefined on the ground and the Chinese and Indian ideas of where the line should lie are not congruent, patrolling points are critical indicators of actual control of the territory the troops patrol.

These points are (PP) 10, 11, 11A, 12, and 13. The troops should be able to, after the disengagment, patrol up to these points and return.

The nuts and bolts of the agreement on the ground has been worked out at the Corps Commander level, report agencies. Whenever dis-engagement occurs, the end points where the troops will withdraw to are the first to be worked out, and a phased and verifiable withdrawal then ensues.

Given the repeated Chinese incursions over the years, the Army would be understandably wary and will want to make doubly sure that the process is followed both in spirit and letter. A concomitant and significant increase in surveillance, intelligence and reconnaissance is a given under these circumstances.

The Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India – China Border Affairs and flag meetings will kick into play in due course. As will increased communications between the two sides, an injunction made by the Chinese President at Kazan when he told Prime Minister Modi that the “ two sides should strengthen communication and cooperation, properly handle divergences and differences.”

According to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, “the consensus achieved includes patrolling and grazing (rights) to traditional areas” which means that shepherds who were earlier turned away from areas they had routinely let their sheep graze in traditional grazing areas will now be able to return as well.

It is one thing to come to an agreement at the political and the diplomatic levels and totally another thing to get it to work on the ground, say military sources, with vast experience on dealing with the Chinese. They point out that ultimately the Army will be responsible for protection of territory, and implementation is much more difficult to do than to move pins on a map.

The Chinese, having repeatedly broken working arrangements have been there, the army is under no illusions as to what lies ahead, a point that was belaboured by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to President Xi Jinping when he said what was required was mutual respect, mutual trust and mutual sensitivity.