India has ended up conceding to creation of yet another ‘buffer zone’ in its own territory while agreeing with China for withdrawal of troops from Patrolling Point 15 on the Line of Actual Control, the representative of the local community to the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) alleged.
Konchok Stanzin, a councillor of the LAHDC, on Tuesday told DH that the recent disengagement of troops by the two sides from Gogra-Hotsprings area near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) saw India agreeing with China for withdrawal of its troops, not only from the face-off point at PP15, but also from PP16, to the Karam Singh Hill. He said that India ended up turning its own territory along its LAC with China into a “buffer zone”, with a moratorium on patrolling.
The earlier disengagement of troops in Galwan Valley in June 2020, in northern bank of Pangong Tso in February 2021 and in Gogra Post in August 2021 also saw India agreeing with China for creation of ‘buffer zones’ and moratorium on patrolling.
Stanzin, who was elected to LAHDC from Chushul in Ladakh, also expressed apprehension that withdrawal of troops by the Indian Army from PP16, where it had maintained a permanent post for decades, could result in turning Krugang Valley, used by local people for grazing of cattle since long back, into a disputed territory between India and China.
He said people in his constituency were very unhappy over the loss of India's territory to China.
“Very important Kugrang Valley got disputed. Miles of land become a buffer zone from the Indian side. But who cares about local feelings?” Stanzin posted on Twitter, retweeting a tweet by Subramanian Swamy, the former Bharatiya Janata Party’s member in the Rajya Sabha, who also not-so-subtly criticized India’s latest agreement with China for withdrawal of troops from the PP15.
“Chinese are laughing away on Indian media reports quoting Modi Govt that India and China have vacated to either side of LAC. Truth: China has withdrawn from Indian land and India has withdrawn from Indian land. Thus, China claims:”What mine in mine and what is your is also mine,” tweeted Swamy.
The Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) completed withdrawal of troops from Gogra-Hotsprings area (PP15) between September 8 and 12. The two sides ceased forward deployments in the area in a phased, coordinated and verified manner, resulting in the “return of the troops of both sides to their respective areas".
All temporary structures and other allied infrastructure created in the area by both sides were also dismantled.
Source in New Delhi said on Tuesday that the disengagement process near PP-15 had been completed and the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA had completed verification of each other’s positions after pulling back troops from the friction points.
The disengagement of troops by both sides from PP15 ended a long impasse in negotiation to resolve the military stand-off, which stated along the LAC in eastern Ladakh in April-May-2020 after the Indian Army had to deploy additional troops to counter the Chinese PLA’s aggressive move to alter the status quo along the LAC – the de facto boundary between the two nations. The two sides had last mutually withdrawn troops from Gogra Post (PP17A) in August 2021.