China-India demilitarized zone upsets defense officials in Delhi

China-India demilitarized zone upsets defense officials in Delhi

• By Staff Writer

China-India demilitarized zone upsets defense officials in Delhi

After the deadliest fighting in decades, India and China are setting up demilitarized areas along their Himalayan border -- a move that has rankled some members of India’s security establishment.

 The agreement would result in India pulling back from strategic high ground occupied in a secrecy operation last August, they said.

The move followed the creation of a similar demilitarized zone last year some 150 kms away along the Galwan river, where 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops were killed in brutal hand-to-hand combat. That escalation on June 15, the first time casualties were reported along the disputed frontier since 1975. China only acknowledged the deaths on February 19.

While the pullback has calmed tensions for the moment, some members of India’s security establishment trust the creation of non-militarized areas work in Beijing’s favor, according to the officials, who asked not to be identified discussing private conversations. They said China increased suspicions by objecting to an Indian proposal for both countries to patrol the area around the lake on alternate days on the grounds that it would affect Beijing’s sovereignty.

Indian protection and security officials had increased their concerns about the area around Pangong Tso with the government but it opted for a speedy disengagement. On February 10 the two countries began rolling back soldiers, tanks and artillery guns that were stationed around the lake in rifle range of each other for nearly 10 months.

The Indian army, Defense Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment.

“The two sides should cherish this hard won momentum and consolidate existing outcomes, maintain momentum for consultation and further ease the situation,” he said at a regular briefing.

An 80-square-kilometer (31-square-mile) patch of pasture land along the southern edge of the Tibetan Plateau and the Indian border state of Uttarakhand was the first to be set aside as no-man’s-land in the 1950s. Yet that has failed to prevent conflict in the area, according to Jayadeva Ranade, a member of India’s National Security Council Advisory Board and head of the New Delhi-based Centre for China Analysis and Strategy.

“Uttarakhand border continues to be a hot spot,” he said. “Beijing’s track record of respecting agreements is poor.”

Note: - As every caution has been taken to provide our readers with most accurate information and honest analysis. Please check the pros and cons of the same before making any decision on the basis of the shared details.