#Ladakh Galwan Valley Tension

[beardedmrbean]

India says it has lodged a "strong protest" with China over a new map that lays claim to its territory.

Indian media have reported that the map shows the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh and the disputed Aksai Chin plateau as China's territory.

It was released by China's ministry of natural resources on Monday.

"We reject these claims as they have no basis," India's foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

He added that such steps by China "only complicate the resolution of the boundary question".

Beijing has not officially responded yet.

India's Foreign Minister S Jaishankar also called China's claim "absurd".

"China has even in the past put out maps which claim the territories which are not China's, which belong to other countries. This is an old habit of theirs," he told TV channel NDTV on Tuesday.

India's protest comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke on the sidelines of the Brics summit in South Africa. An Indian official said afterwards that the two countries had agreed to "intensify efforts at expeditious disengagement and de-escalation" along the disputed border.

Shadow of 60-year-old war at India-China flashpoint

The Indian monastery town coveted by China

India has often reacted angrily to China's attempts to stake claim to its territory.

The source of the tension between the neighbours is a disputed 3,440km (2,100 mile)-long de facto border along the Himalayas - called the Line of Actual Control, or LAC - which is poorly demarcated. The presence of rivers, lakes and snowcaps means the line can shift in places.

Soldiers on either side come face to face at many points, which can spark tensions - the last time being in December when Indian and Chinese troops clashed along the border in the town of Tawang.

China says it considers the whole of Arunachal Pradesh its territory, calling it "South Tibet" - a claim India firmly rejects. India claims the Aksai Chin plateau in the Himalayas, which is controlled by China.

In April, Delhi reacted sharply to China's attempts to rename 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh, saying the state would always be "an "integral and inalienable part of India".

Relations between India and China have worsened since 2020, when their troops were involved in a deadly clash at the Galwan valley in Ladakh - it was the first fatal confrontation between the two sides since 1975.

[mariacallous]

During the recent G-20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi got up from the banquet table to shake hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping and have a brief conversation—their first in-person exchange in three years. Although both sides remain tight-lipped about the interaction, it nonetheless raised hopes among observers of a breakthrough in their 30-month border crisis, which began with a deadly clash in Ladakh in 2020. But any resolution that might emerge will not dispel the challenge posed by massive changes at the border undertaken by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

This marks the third straight winter that around 50,000 Indian reinforcements will spend in Ladakh’s inhospitable terrain in the northern Himalayas, warding off an equal number of Chinese troops stationed a few miles away. Despite intermittent dialogue between the two militaries, Indian Army Chief Gen. Manoj Pande recently confirmed that China has not reduced its forces at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Chinese infrastructure construction along the border is “going on unabated,” he said—confirmed by independent satellite imagery and echoed by the latest U.S. Defense Department report on China. Pande said the situation is “stable but unpredictable.” That unpredictability has become structural.

India and China have so far held 16 rounds of border talks between senior military commanders as well as numerous diplomatic and political engagements, but an agreement on actions to reduce the tensions in Ladakh has been slow to materialize. Of the seven areas in Ladakh where Indian and Chinese soldiers have faced one another since 2020, two have seen no change while the rest have seen each side take a limited step back. The challenge for India is becoming more concerning on the eastern part of the LAC—between the state of Arunachal Pradesh and Tibet—where China has an infrastructure and military advantage, putting New Delhi on the defensive.

The widening power gap between India and China—military, technological, economic, and diplomatic—now constrains New Delhi’s options on the border. It also raises tough questions for India’s geopolitical partnerships, such as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (known as the Quad), and its aggressive approach toward Pakistan. The border crisis will hang over India’s decision-making for the foreseeable future.

In October, the Chinese Communist Party held its 20th National Congress, and Xi assumed an unprecedented third term as leader. Among the images broadcasted at the Great Hall of the People minutes before Xi ascended the stage was a video from the Galwan Valley in Ladakh, where at least 20 Indian soldiers and 4 PLA soldiers died in a clash in June 2020. The videos showed PLA regiment commander Qi Fabao standing with his arms outstretched to stop Indian soldiers from advancing. Qi was selected to be a delegate to the Party Congress, underlining the importance of the border crisis to the Chinese Communist Party’s narrative. Harnessing nationalism, the party wants to convey that it will protect what it considers Chinese territory at all costs.

India’s military and political leaders now confront a reality at the border that should have jolted them into serious action: China has a distinct advantage over India, which it has consolidated since 2020. By investing in a long-term military presence in one of the most remote places on Earth, the PLA has considerably reduced the time it would need to launch a military operation against India. New military garrisons, roads, and bridges would allow for rapid deployment and make clear that Beijing is not considering a broader retreat. The Indian military has responded by diverting certain forces intended for the border with Pakistan toward its disputed border with China. It has deployed additional ground forces to prevent further PLA ingress in Ladakh and constructed supporting infrastructure. Meanwhile, New Delhi’s political leadership is conspicuous in its silence, projecting a sense of normalcy.

Beijing refuses to discuss two of the areas in Ladakh, where its forces have blocked Indian patrols since 2020. In five other areas, Chinese troops have stepped back by a few miles but asked India to do the same and create a no-patrolling zone. This move denies India its right to patrol areas as planned before the border crisis began. The PLA has flatly refused to discuss de-escalation, in which both armies would pull back by a substantive distance. The question of each side withdrawing its additional troops from Ladakh is not even on the agenda. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson rejected any demand to restore the situation along the LAC as it existed before May 2020. The PLA continues to downplay the severity of the situation, instead emphasizing stability in its ties with India.

If the situation in Ladakh is “stable but unpredictable,” Indian military leaders have told Foreign Policy that major stretches of the LAC’s eastern sector—2,500 kilometers (or 1,553 miles) away—are an even bigger cause of concern. In 1962, this area was the site of a humiliating defeat of the Indian Army at the hands of the PLA. Today, massive Chinese infrastructure development and troop buildup closer to the LAC has placed India at a military disadvantage. In September, Pande said when it comes to infrastructure in the area, “there is lots to be desired to be done.” Recent reports suggest at least three additional PLA brigades remain deployed in the area even after the Party Congress, further worrying Indian military planners.

China officially claims the entire state of Arunachal Pradesh, which includes the Tawang Monastery where the sixth Dalai Lama was born in 1683. Tawang was historically a part of Tibet; Chinese officials, such as Dai Bingguo, who served as China’s boundary negotiator with India from 2003 to 2013, have publicly stated that it would be nonnegotiable in a permanent settlement of the disputed border. As questions arise over the succession of the current Dalai Lama, who is 87 years old, Chinese sensitivities about Tawang will intensify—even more so when linked to its internal security problems in Tibet. In the coming years, it is likely to become a higher priority for China.

Still, it is in Ladakh that the Chinese have built up infrastructure at a frenetic pace, with only military operations in mind: roads, bridges, airfields, heliports, accommodations for troops, and storage and communication infrastructure. Pande noted that one of the biggest developments is the G695 highway, which runs parallel to the LAC and gives the PLA the ability to quickly move from one valley to another. Flatter terrain on the Chinese side already gives Beijing an advantage, now further bolstered by infrastructure—an extensive network of new roads, bridges, and heliports.

In the 1960s, the PLA needed one full summer season to mobilize and launch military operations in Ladakh for the next summer. Now, it would need a couple of weeks to undertake the same operation. Indian military planners must live with this scenario, even if the current border crisis is resolved.

Modi approaching Xi in Bali recalled a short exchange between the two leaders on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, in 2017. Then, their conversation sparked diplomatic communications between New Delhi and Beijing that aimed to resolve a standoff between Indian and Chinese troops at Doklam in Bhutan, which China claims as its territory. The talks led to disengagement, but the Chinese only stepped back a few hundred yards. They have since consolidated their military deployment and undertaken massive infrastructure development in Doklam, such as roads, helipads, and a military garrison. Even if an immediate crisis was averted, the status quo was permanently altered in China’s favor in Doklam.

A similar resolution of the Ladakh border crisis would carry bigger risks for India. Unlike in Doklam, China has entered areas in Ladakh that Indian troops regularly patrolled until 2020. Reinforcing the LAC over the vast span of Ladakh would require enhanced deployment of Indian ground forces. This permanent instability would put the Indian military under further pressure. With an already limited defense budget—China’s is more than four times as large—shifting more troops to the border would also divert resources from the Indian Navy, where multilateral cooperation with Quad partners to contest China’s influence in the Indian Ocean region is an absolute imperative.

Fearing escalation, India is forsaking even limited offensive options, such as launching a quid pro quo military operation to capture some territory in Tibet to arrive at the negotiating table with a strong hand. New Delhi’s defensive position instead seems to acknowledge its widening gap with Beijing; due to this power differential, it is unable to even use economic or diplomatic instruments to target China. After all, India’s bilateral trade with China—its biggest trading partner—reached record levels this year, with an all-time high trade deficit in Beijing’s favor. The U.S. Defense Department report on China reveals that Beijing has warned U.S. officials not to interfere with its relationship with New Delhi; Kenneth Juster, a former U.S. ambassador to India, said New Delhi doesn’t want Washington to mention Beijing’s border aggression.

India’s defensive posture plays out in its approach to diplomatic engagement and security cooperation. Unlike its Quad partners, India abstained from voting against China on the Xinjiang issue at the United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in October, and its comments on China’s crackdown in Hong Kong or aggression toward Taiwan have been guarded. Modi participated in both the BRICS summit and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit this year, along with Xi; Chinese delegations are still regularly invited to New Delhi for multilateral events. And an Indian military contingent participated with a PLA contingent in a military exercise in Russia this year.

The current situation along the LAC, both in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh, as well as China’s refusal to discuss issues on India’s agenda for resolving the crisis have added to the structural instability in their relationship. Chinese infrastructure development and the widening gap in power means that this instability will become permanent, even with a solution to the immediate crisis. India’s military will remain under pressure and on guard. Pande made this implicit when discussing future Indian plans on the border in November. “We need to very carefully calibrate our actions on the LAC [so as] to be able to safeguard both our interests and sensitivities … and be prepared to deal with all types of contingencies,” he said.

The risk of an accidental military escalation between Asia’s most populous countries—both nuclear powers—has increased significantly since 2020. This will continue unless Modi and Xi find a new modus vivendi. Establishing guardrails in the relationship will require political imagination and an honest appraisal of relative strengths; failing that, New Delhi faces tough geopolitical choices. It has so far eschewed any security-centric step with the Quad that could provoke Beijing, but murmurs from its partners about reticent Indian policy are bound to get louder. Meanwhile, India’s reliance on Russia for military equipment and ammunition now falls under a cloud of suspicion. And an unstable border with China prevents India from targeting Pakistan, a tactic that has proved politically rewarding for Modi.

The fundamentals of Indian foreign policy that have held steady since the years of former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru—namely, strategic autonomy and ensuring territorial integrity and sovereignty—will come under greater stress as the border crisis looms over New Delhi. Modi boasts of great ambitions for India as a “Vishwa Guru,” or master to the world—a euphemism for a global superpower. But questions raised by the situation at the border with China continue to limit him.

[ias-next-lucknow]

Hot Springs and Gogra Post

After Chinese troops’ incursion in eastern Ladakh in 2020, Patrolling Point 15 (PP15) in Hot Springs and PP17A near Gogra Post were among the four friction points between the two armies, the other two being PP14 in Galwan Valley and the north bank of Pangong Tso.

In a major breakthrough, the Indian and Chinese sides have started disengaging at Patrolling Point (PP15) in the Gogra-Hot spring region of eastern Ladakh. This comes after the armies reached a consensus in the 16th round of the India-China Corps Commander level meet.

Location:

Gogra Post is east of the point where the Chang Chenmo river takes a hairpin bend coming southeast from Galwan Valley and turning southwest.

The area is north of the Karakoram Range of mountains, which lies north of the Pangong Tso lake, and south east of Galwan Valley.

Significance of Hot Springs and the Gogra Post:

The area is adjacent to Kongka Pass, one of the main passes that China claims marks the boundary between India and China.

India’s claim to the international boundary lies significantly east, covering the whole Aksai Chin region.

Hot Springs and Gogra Post are located at the boundary between two of China’s most historically troubled provinces (Xinjiang and Tibet).

What is the importance of Disengagement on Hot Springs and the Gogra Post?

The disengagement in the Hot springs-Gogra region will de-escalate the border tension with China as it officially ends the eye-to-eye confrontation at all new friction points created by the PLA in 2020.

The regions, PP15 and PP17A, are located in an area where India and China largely agree on the LAC alignment.

After the 2020 ingress, there was a significant build-up of the Chinese troops and deployment of heavy weapons in Hot springs-Gogra region

Kongka Pass Location:

Kongka Pass, also known as the Kongka La, is a low mountain pass that cuts through the Chang Chenmo Valley. It is located in Ladakh, on the disputed India-China border.

Galwan Valley Location:

The valley is strategically placed between Ladakh in the west and Aksai Chin in the east, both of which are currently under China’s control as part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Read more :... https://iasnext.com/hot-springs-and-gogra-post-upsc-current-affairs/

[jsbmarketresearch01]

Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister to Meet Qin Gang the Chinese Foreign Minister, and Antony Blinken the U.S. Secretary of the State

S Jaishankar, the External Affairs Minister of India will be in back-to-back bilateral meetings with Qin Gang (Chinese foreign minister) and Antony Blinken (U.S. Secretary of the state) on the note of the G20 meeting between foreign ministers on Thursday. After visiting the Central Asian states at Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre (G20 meeting venue) at 11:30 AM, Blinken reached New Delhi on Wednesday late at night. Jaishankar will thus meet Blinken first and then follow up with other meetings.

In the noon, Jaishankar will meet with Qin immediately with Blinken. Qin is on his first visit to India and is a close aide to President Xi Jinping. He is the foreign minister and replaced Wang Yi last year. With continued tensions between U.S. and China, these meetings are important to lessen the chances of a military standoff between the Chinese and Indian troops on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Ladakh sector.

Considering the last 6 decades, relations between India and China are at the lowest given the clashes in June 2020 at the Galwan valley that caused the death of 20 Indian soldiers brutally, and 4 from the Chinese troops. Blinken has clarified that there are no plans for any meetings on the margins of the G20 meeting between him and his counterparts from China and Russia.

However, Jaishankar and Blinken’s meeting will probably help to review the progress on discussions and bilateral relations regarding international and regional issues such as that prevalent in the Indo-Pacific and Ukraine. In the recent few weeks, several visits have taken place from high-level contacts between the two nations. These include Ajit Doval, the National Security Adviser visiting the U.S. to launch the iCET (Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies).

Considering jaishankar’s meeting with Qin will perhaps focus on normalizing bilateral relations with the country and people by standing firm on India’s position on the withdrawal of frontline troops of China on the LAC. While China and India are considering relations for trade, the Chinese side has also stressed on putting the border tensions in an appropriate place. After several military and diplomatic talks, China and India withdrew troops from the invaded and disputed two banks – Gogra and Hot Springs of Pangong Lake.

But China has prepared military infrastructure, bridges, and roads on its LAC, causing friction for any progress in areas such as Demchok and Depsang. Jaishankar will also oversee other bilateral meetings with 9 guest countries set to attend the meeting for G20 foreign ministers and counterparts from G20 countries on Thursday. There will be meetings that the External Affairs Minister will attend with his counterparts from Germany and France.

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[gujarati9-blog]

रक्षा मंत्री राजनाथ सिंह, एनएसए अजित डोवाल समेत सेना के अफसरों के बीच डेढ़ घंटे चली मीटिंग, पूर्वी लद्दाख के हालात का रिव्यू किया गया Hindi NewsNationalIndia China Ladakh Border Tension Latest News Update | Ministers And Indian Army Officers Today Meet Today After Firing Incidents LAC In Eastern Ladakh…

[iloudlyclearbouquetworld]

वरिष्ठ मंत्री और सेना के अफसर आज मीटिंग कर सकते हैं, चीन के खिलाफ भारत की तैयारियों समेत 3 मुद्दों पर चर्चा की उम्मीद Hindi News National India China Ladakh Border Tension Latest News Update | Ministers And Indian Army Officers Today Meet Today After Firing Incidents LAC In Eastern Ladakh…

[vilaspatelvlogs]

वरिष्ठ मंत्री और सेना के अफसर आज मीटिंग कर सकते हैं, चीन के खिलाफ भारत की तैयारियों समेत 3 मुद्दों पर चर्चा की उम्मीद Hindi News National India China Ladakh Border Tension Latest News Update | Ministers And Indian Army Officers Today Meet Today After Firing Incidents LAC In Eastern Ladakh…

[dlsnewsindia]

Narendra Modi Ladakh Visit; What It Means For China Xi Jinping and People Liberation Army | India China Galwan Valley Face-off Latest News | Modi told China and the world - the whole region of Ladakh is of India; Not only the army, but the Prime Minister of the country is also present here

Narendra Modi Ladakh Visit; What It Means For China Xi Jinping and People Liberation Army | India China Galwan Valley Face-off Latest News | Modi told China and the world – the whole region of Ladakh is of India; Not only the army, but the Prime Minister of the country is also present here

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The Prime Minister sent a message to China that how serious India is about this issue

Told the opposition that India is doing everything under a thoughtful strategy

The Prime Minister has been able to isolate China despite not taking his name.

Gaurav Pandey

Jul 04, 2020, 03:23 AM IST

new Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi suddenly surprised everyone by reaching Leh on Friday morning.…

[officeofspecialpoliticscounsel]

INDIA & CHINESE TENSIONS RISE: Days Leading Up To The Most Violent Border Clash Between India & China In Decades

INDIA & CHINESE TENSIONS RISE: Days Leading Up To The Most Violent Border Clash Between India & China In Decades

SINGAPORE/NEW DELHI – In the days leading up to the most violent border clash between India and China in decades, China brought in pieces of machinery, cut a trail into a Himalayan mountainside and may have even dammed a river, satellite pictures suggest.

The images, shot on Tuesday, a day after soldiers engaged in hand-to-hand combat in the freezing Galwan Valley, show an increase in activity…

[inventivaindia]

Why China is refusing to disengage in Hot Springs and Gogra Post?

Why China is refusing to disengage in Hot Springs and Gogra Post?

On September 9th, a top decision-making source in East Ladakh informed that, during the 11th round of talks between India and China’s top military commanders, China refused to vacate two out of the original four reactions. According to the source, China told India that it should be “truly happy” with the results of the disengagement in the Pangong Tso sector. China still has platoon-level power…

[ias-next-lucknow]

Hot Springs and Gogra Post

After Chinese troops’ incursion in eastern Ladakh in 2020, Patrolling Point 15 (PP15) in Hot Springs and PP17A near Gogra Post were among the four friction points between the two armies, the other two being PP14 in Galwan Valley and the north bank of Pangong Tso.

In a major breakthrough, the Indian and Chinese sides have started disengaging at Patrolling Point (PP15) in the Gogra-Hot spring region of eastern Ladakh. This comes after the armies reached a consensus in the 16th round of the India-China Corps Commander level meet.

Location:

Gogra Post is east of the point where the Chang Chenmo river takes a hairpin bend coming southeast from Galwan Valley and turning southwest.

The area is north of the Karakoram Range of mountains, which lies north of the Pangong Tso lake, and south east of Galwan Valley.

Significance of Hot Springs and the Gogra Post:

The area is adjacent to Kongka Pass, one of the main passes that China claims marks the boundary between India and China.

India’s claim to the international boundary lies significantly east, covering the whole Aksai Chin region.

Hot Springs and Gogra Post are located at the boundary between two of China’s most historically troubled provinces (Xinjiang and Tibet).

What is the importance of Disengagement on Hot Springs and the Gogra Post?

The disengagement in the Hot springs-Gogra region will de-escalate the border tension with China as it officially ends the eye-to-eye confrontation at all new friction points created by the PLA in 2020.

The regions, PP15 and PP17A, are located in an area where India and China largely agree on the LAC alignment.

After the 2020 ingress, there was a significant build-up of the Chinese troops and deployment of heavy weapons in Hot springs-Gogra region

Kongka Pass Location:

Kongka Pass, also known as the Kongka La, is a low mountain pass that cuts through the Chang Chenmo Valley. It is located in Ladakh, on the disputed India-China border.

Read more: https://iasnext.com/hot-springs-and-gogra-post-upsc-current-affairs/

[vilaspatelvlogs]

सेना लद्दाख में बोफोर्स तोपें तैनात करने की तैयारी कर रही; इन तोपों ने 21 साल पहले पाकिस्तान के खिलाफ कारगिल युद्ध जिताया था Hindi News National India China; India China Border Tension Latest News Update | Indian Army Preparing To Deploy Bofors Gun In Ladakh…

[weelectronicstudentreviewstuff]

India-China border tension: US ready to help resolve dispute, says Trump Image Source : AP India-China border tension 'nasty', US ready to help resolve dispute: Trump  The United States is ready to get involved and help to resolve the dispute between India and China over the mountain border running through the western Himalayas, President Donald Trump said on Friday, terming the ongoing tensions as a "very nasty situation."

[hulnews]

'Have No Doubt...': India Warns China Against 'Aggressive Behaviour' in First Political Meet After Border Flare-Up

‘Have No Doubt…’: India Warns China Against ‘Aggressive Behaviour’ in First Political Meet After Border Flare-Up

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The Indian delegation led by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh holds discussions with the Chinese side led by General Wei Fenghe. (@rajnathsingh/Twitter)

Defence minister Rajnath Singh advised the Chinese side to work with the Indian side for complete disengagement at the earliest from all friction areas including Pangong Lake as well as de-escalation in border areas, a statement from the…

[newshindiplus]

चीन का दावा- ज्यादातर जगहों से पीछे हट गए हैं सैनिक, पैंगोंग पर सवाल बरक़रार

चीन का दावा- ज्यादातर जगहों से पीछे हट गए हैं सैनिक, पैंगोंग पर सवाल बरक़रार

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भारत ने चीन के दावे को गलत बताया चीनी (China) विदेश मंत्रालय ने मंगलवार को दावा किया कि दोनों देशों के सैनिक LAC से दोनों देशों के सैनिक पीछे हट गए हैं और जमीनी स्तर पर तनाव अब सामान्य स्थिति में पहुंच गया है. उधर भारतीय सरकार के सूत्रों का दावा…

[digimakacademy]

लद्दाख: पैंगोंग सो में अभी कायम PLA, चीन का दावा- 'बातचीत के साथ-साथ हट रहे हैं'

लद्दाख: पैंगोंग सो में अभी कायम PLA, चीन का दावा- ‘बातचीत के साथ-साथ हट रहे हैं’

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India-China Ladakh Standoff: भारत और चीन के बीच पिछले महीने हुई हिंसक झड़प के बाद से जारी बातचीत के दौर के नतीजतन दोनों देशों की सेनाएं सीमा से पीछे हट गए हैं। वहीं, चीन की सेना अभी Pangong Tso Lake में Finger Area के पास तैनात है। इसे लेकर चीन के प्रवक्ता ने दावा किया है कि जैसे-जैसे बातचीत आगे बढ़ रही है, सेनाएं पीछे हट रही हैं।

Edited By Shatakshi Asthana | नवभारतटाइम्स.कॉम |…