M A I N   N E W S

India pulled down a tin-shed in Chumar to end LAC standoff
Ashok Tuteja/TNS

The understanding India had started the construction of the tin-shed in Chumar on April 18, after the Chinese incursion was noticed on April 15 in the Daulat Beg Oldie Sector The tin-shed was removed by Indian troops as part of an understanding with China to end the face-off between the forces of the two countries in Ladakh on Sunday night

New Delhi, May 7
India did pull down a tin-shed it had started constructing at Chumar close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to arrive at an understanding with China to end the face-off between the forces of the two countries in Ladakh on Sunday night, sources said today.

The construction of the tin-shed was undertaken by India on April 18, after the Chinese incursion was noticed on April 15 in the Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) Sector.

The Army’s UAVs operating in eastern Ladakh has confirmed that the Chinese platoon camping in Depsang valley has gone back to its side of the LAC.

New Delhi is still wondering why the Chinese carried out the incursion when the two countries were conducted negotiations at almost every level of the government to peacefully resolve the boundary dispute. “Perhaps, the Chinese want to bring the border issue right to the fore at the highest level of the government to expedite a border agreement,” sources said. But at no point of time during the three-week standoff, India underestimated the Chinese intrusion or overestimated 
the development.

Sources said Beijing had proposed to India about two-three months back a border defence cooperation agreement to expand friendly contacts between the troops of the two countries and better communication between them.

India was still studying the agreement. It might be discussed further between the two sides when External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid visits Beijing on May 9-10 to prepare the ground for the Chinese Premier’s trip to New Delhi later this month. The proposed agreement would, however, in no way replace the 2005 border accord between the two nations.

Narrating the sequence of events ever since the Chinese incursion was detected by India, sources said New Delhi was alerted on April 15 that one Chinese patrol had come to the DBO Sector, followed by some aerial sorties. India also did an aerial sortie and noticed that the Chinese had pitched tents there. India immediately took measures to counter the Chinese and this was when the forces of the two countries came face-to-face. Indian Army commanders took up the matter with their Chinese counterparts. On April 16, Gautam Bambawale, Joint Secretary (East Asia) in the External Affairs Ministry, who also heads the India-China mechanism for border management, took up the matter with his Chinese counterpart. When there was no satisfactory response, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai called the Chinese Ambassador to his office at the South Block on April 18 and firmly told him that India was determined to ensure the status quo as it existed on April 15.

Indian Ambassador to China S Jaishankar had also made it clear to his Chinese interlocutors that New Delhi was not prepared for any bargain and that the incursion could also affect bilateral ties. On April 18 itself, India also started building the ‘tin-shed’, which was brought down only after the Chinese removed their tents.

y April 25, India and China had arrived at some kind of an arrangement. However, on April 30, New Delhi was told that there were gaps of perception on the LAC. India told Beijing that this was not the time for going into minute details of how the Chinese incursion should end. The threat to cancel External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid’s visit to Beijing might have also helped in ending the face-off situation. The breakthrough came at the flag meetings held over the last week-end. Asked why did the Chinese do incursion, the sources said: “We still can’t fathom why it was done.”