NEW DELHI: The Indian presence at 26 Patrolling Points (PPs) close to the Line of Actual Control with China in eastern Ladakh has been lost, according to a research paper of a senior police officer of the Union Territory.
As per the paper: “There are 65 PPs starting from Karakoram pass to Chumur which are to be patrolled regularly by the ISFs (Indian security forces). Out of 65 PPs, our presence is lost in 26 PPs (PP no. 5-17, 24-32, 37, 51,52,62) due to restrictive or no patrolling by the ISFs.
Later on, China forces us to accept the fact that, as such areas have not seen the presence of ISFs or civilians since long, the Chinese were present in these areas. This leads to a shift in the border under control of ISFs towards the Indian side and a buffer zone is created in all such pockets which ultimately leads to loss of control over these areas by India. This tactic of the PLA to grab land inch-by-inch is known as Salami Slicing.”
It was one of the 15 research papers submitted during the annual Director General of Police Conference organised by the Intelligence Bureau from January 20-22 and attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. The paper, as per reports, did not come up for discussion.
The Indian security forces have been physically accessing the Patrolling Points before May 2020. As first reported by this newspaper, many of them became inaccessible due to the standoff created by the PLA after they clashed with the Indian soldiers at Finger-4 near Pangong Lake. Later the standoff extended in Galwan, Gogra and Hotsprings.