Standoff ended with both sides blinking
India’s assurance to tone down aggressive patrolling in Ladakh and a promise to examine its military structures that China objected to were the face-savers that led to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troopers dismantling tents and returning to their military base 25 km from the stand-off point on Raki Nallah.
That apart, a stern warning from the Indian diplomats that New Delhi may rethink on hosting Chinese premier Li Keqiang on May 20, which is his first-ever foreign trip after taking over a couple of months ago, did the trick and made Beijing see reason on the Ladakh incursion, sources in the Indian security establishment said here on Tuesday.
A platoon of Chinese troopers had ventured 19 km into the Indian side of the LAC on April 15 and pitched tents on Raki Nallah on Debsang bulge in the Daulat Beg Oldi sector, resulting in a face-to-face stand-off with the Indian troopers from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Indian Army’s Ladakh Scouts, who too pitched tents as a counter-measure.
The Chinese soldiers dismantled their camp and moved back 25 km into their side of the LAC north of the stand-off point on Sunday night, bringing back peace and tranquility along the 650-km Line of Actual Control in the region.
The breakthrough had been achieved through diplomatic and military parleys that India and China had over the last weekend, which resulted in the two sides walking away from the stand-off point peacefully and the Chinese soldiers moving back to their military base.
However, one of the key issues that the Chinese had and cited as a reason for them venturing into the Ladakh region was the “change in the behaviour” of the Indian troopers, meaning the PLA did not like the “aggressive patrolling” of the Indian soldiers.
The Chinese had, during three of the four flag meetings with Indian local military commanders, raised the issue of Indian troopers’ aggressive patrolling in the Ladakh region and objecting to the setting up of new bunkers and observations posts along the LAC.