Need to deal with LAC flare-ups politically or diplomatically

SOURCE: ENS

Hours after the ninth round of corps commander-level talks between India and China got over in eastern Ladakh, the Indian Army revealed that there was a minor faceoff between their troops in Naku La , Sikkim, on January 20. Though the issue was resolved by the local commanders, that there was a standoff of sorts even in the harsh Himalayan winter only underlines that the two sides are deeply suspicious of each other.

Even a small incident has the potential to lead to a clash, as the bloody Galwan Valley fight showed, unless wiser counsel prevails. In the meantime, as was widely expected, the corps commanders in Ladakh failed to make a breakthrough on the Chinese intrusions from Depsang to the Pangong Tso.

Although there is no official word on the talks, it is learnt that India pressed for a phased withdrawal along the entire Line of Actual Control while the Chinese side asked the Indian Army to first pull back from the Kailash Range, where Indian soldiers in a preemptive move occupied several heights in August last year, giving them a tactical advantage as they overlook Chinese garrisons.

It will be hazardous to try and guess when the standoff will end, but it could be safe to say that it is time to take the talks to another level, either diplomatic or political. This is because there is a massive trust deficit between the two armies currently. This can only be bridged if the dispute is viewed from a different perspective. Past precedent shows that the armies are poor at resolving a prolonged standoff as distinct from a clash. While the military commanders are capable of cooling tempers at the lower level following a fight, a dispute is best handled by the diplomats or the political executive.

In 2013, there was a three-week standoff in the Depsang area and the corps commanders made little headway in breaking the deadlock. It was only resolved after the joint study group comprising foreign, defence and home secretaries, besides the generals, came into the picture. The Doklam faceoff of 2017 is another example. It’s time to ensure the corps commander talks don’t go down the path of the farmers, where it has been only tareekh pe tareekh. 

from Indian Defence Research Wing https://ift.tt/3osHFLq
via IFTTThttp://idrw.org