12 days after LAC thaw, patrolling in Ladakh’s Depsang yet to commence

More than 10 days after India announced a ‘patrolling arrangement’ with China at two spots along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the resumption of patrolling at crucial routes on the Depsang plateau in eastern Ladakh will take “some more time”.

Sources told The Tribune that meetings regarding this have taken place between Brigade-Commander level officers of the two countries. The modalities for patrol are still being finalised. It could take a day or two more for the patrols to re-commence, said a source.

For both sides, the Depsang plateau is militarily crucial. East of it lies the Aksai Chin — the northwestern edge of Ladakh illegally occupied by China since the 1950s.

Beijing fears that India can interdict its two main roads passing through Aksai Chin. These roads are the land connection between Tibet and Xinjiang. Conversely, on the Indian side, an assessment is that China could make a westward push in an attempt to cut-off Depsang and also India’s access to the landing ground at Daulat Baig Odie, sources said.

The restart of patrolling at Depsang is crucial for the Indian Army. It would re-open patrol routes for Indian troops at patrolling points 10, 11, 12 and 13 — these routes go eastwards of ‘bottleneck’ — the name of a geographical feature — on the 972 sq km Depsang plateau.

The last time an Indian patrol went east of ‘bottleneck’ was in January 2020. The two sides were locked in a military stand off since April 2020 and patrol routes had been blocked. LAC — the defecto border between the two neighbours — is un-demarcated on ground. Troops of either side patrol up to the spots they perceive as the LAC. The ‘patrolling arrangement’ for re-opening of patrolling routes at Depsang and Demchok was announced on October 21 by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.

Patrolling is being coordinated in a manner that troops of both sides inform each other before a patrol party is launched. These coordinated patrols are part of the measures put in place so that a face-off can be prevented at LAC, Army sources have said.

After modalities were decided at the Brigade-commander level, the first patrol at Demchok was done yesterday. Patrolling re-commenced after troops of either side physically verified that structures and man-made blockages on patrolling routes have been removed at Depsang and Demchok. All temporary structures, tents, vehicles, cameras, sensors and weapons, were removed, sources said. The ‘patrolling arrangement’ does not mention the resumption of patrolling at any other contentious spot in eastern Ladakh, where disengagement has been done — those are at Gogra , Hot Springs, Pangong Tso, and Galwan.

Separately, the two sides exchanged sweets at five locations along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh to mark Diwali. There was no ceremonial military ceremony. At each location, a very small team (of 8-10) from the Indian side and a matching contingent from China met. The two saluted each other and exchanged sweets.