NSA, Army chief meet on crucial CBMs
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, May 2: In some major steps aimed at building trust between India and China and tackle incidents of transgressions immediately, the two Armies were all set to have, for the first time, the Director General Military Operations (DGMO)-level hotline contact between the two nations and conduct joint patrolling on 16 disputed spots including four in Leh district of Ladakh region.
Incursions by the two sides generally take place at 16 disputed spots as both nations claim that the land belonged to them.
National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat today held a meeting in the Union capital in the aftermath of Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) discussed between the top leadership of India and China after which a message was reportedly sent out to all Army formations on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China not to show aggression.
The significant decisions between Sino-Indian militaries, which last year were at loggerheads over Doklam, came after the visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to China ending last month, which ended with two-day summit level talks between Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the world’s two largest Armies would jointly patrol 16 identified disputed spots, spread over five States including Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir, to end chances of transgressions and make 3448-kilometers un-demarcated Line of Actual Control (LAC) between the two countries more peaceful.
Though not even a single shot has been fired by either side on the LAC for past several years, transgressions do take place with Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) sometimes trying to intrude into the Indian territory but retreat after objections by the Indian troops.
Sources identified four spots in Leh district of Ladakh region along LAC with China, which could be jointly patrolled by India and China, as Demchok, Chumar, Pangong Tso and Spangur La. Twelve other disputed spots identified for joint patrolling were spread over Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
“The joint patrolling by the two Armies would go a long way in ending the chances of transgressions by either side, which were major cause of conflict between the two nations, thus keeping LAC more peaceful,’’ sources said.
Noting that joint patrolling along LAC by Sino-Indian troops, especially at the disputed spots, had been mooted sometime back, sources said the proposal finally matured during three high-profile visits by the top Indian leadership to China and was now set to become a reality.
They added that a mechanism on joint patrolling will be worked out by the two Armies shortly and put into practice at the earliest.
Another important decision pertained to setting up of a telephone hotline between Sino-Indian Armies at the level of DGMOs.
“Setting up a telephone hotline between the Armies of India and China was a long pending issue. It was taken up earlier also at the high-level between two sides but never matured. It has now got a final nod by top leadership of the two countries,” sources said, adding presently the two countries have low and middle level hotline channels, which are used at Border Meeting Points (BMPs) to convey their concerns on some issues or hold meetings on different occasions.
In the absence of hotline contact, the armies of two countries contact each other through their respective Foreign Ministries, which is a long-drawn process, sources pointed out.
India and Pakistan have DGMO-level hotline contact. However, such a contact was missing between India and China for past several years notwithstanding that it was discussed at top level a number of times.
Sources said Indian and China could also increase number of Border Meeting Points (BMPs) along LAC especially in the sensitive areas including Ladakh. One to two more BMPs could be set up in each of the five States, which shared LAC with China, they added.
Increase in number of BMPs would mean more frequent contact between the two Armies at the local Commander-level to sort out minor issues between themselves.
Sources said there was a proposal that Sector Commanders of the two Armies would meet once a month to discuss the issues of routine nature, if required.
Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met at Wuhan where the two leaders asked the Armies to build trust and a “better mechanism for maintaining peace and tranquility at the frontier”.
The two countries have for years been talking to sort out their boundary dispute but at the same time ramping up their border infrastructure, often leading to skirmishes.
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