India-China Ladakh face-off still on at Chumar, Demchok

NEW DELHI: The troop face-off at Chumar as well as the "civilian confrontation" at Demchok continued in eastern Ladakh on Tuesday, with India awaiting China's response to the "concerns and objections" raised at the brigadier-level flag meeting on Monday.

Another flag meeting is likely to take place at the Spanggur Gap border meeting point within "a day or two" in a bid to defuse the tensions prevailing along the line of actual control (LAC). This even as India rolls out the red carpet for Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is on a three-day visit beginning from Wednesday.

"In the flag meeting on Monday, India asked China to withdraw from the two areas and adhere to the 2005 Border Protocol between the two sides. But the Chinese sector commander said he would have to seek instructions from his higher HQs. In effect, the meeting was inconclusive," said a source.

Though the government maintained the Chumar and Demchok incidents are "routine in nature" due to "differing perceptions" about where the LAC lies, the fact remains that in both the cases the confrontation has stretched well beyond a couple of days. This is unusual for the border flare-ups that occur due to aggressive patrolling by both sides to lay claim to disputed areas.

A similar face-off had also erupted just before Chinese premier Li Keqiang's visit to India in May last year, which had lasted for 21 days after Chinese troops intruded 19km into Depsang valley in the Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) sector.

The Indian post at Chumar, with its observation points and surveillance cameras, was also the bone of contention during the Depsang face-off. It was finally defused after India dismantled what it called "a tin shed" at Chumar and the PLA troops simultaneously withdrew from Depsang.

As reported by TOI, the ongoing troop face-off at Chumar was triggered after Indian soldiers last week prevented People's Liberation Army from building a road right up to Chepzi on the LAC in the sector where the altitude varies from 11,000 to 15,000 feet.

Though the over 100 Indian troops were outnumbered 1:3, they confronted the Chinese soldiers equipped with cranes and bulldozers and then asked them to withdraw. "As it is, the PLA has built massive infrastructure all along the LAC, and the gap is ever-increasing. They have become especially active in the Chumar sector since our positions there overlook theirs," said a source.

China, in turn, had actively obstructed Indian civilian workers from constructing a water irrigation channel under the NREGA scheme at Demchok for the last one week. A large number of Chinese graziers, ferried on PLA vehicles from their village called Toshigang, have pitched tents at the site to ensure the Indian workers cannot engage in the construction of the water channel.