India raises Chinese buildup, construction along Depsang plains, DBO during talks

By Ajit K Dubey
New Delhi [India], July 18 : Amid the ongoing disengagement process at the friction points between the two armies, India has raised the issue of Chinese troop buildup and construction activities along the Depsang plains and Daulat Beg Oldie area.
India is holding talks at multiple levels with the Chinese including the diplomatic and military levels. The Special Representatives of the two countries including National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Chinese counterpart have also held talks to resolve the issue of military buildup on the LAC.
"During the recent talks, the Indian side told the Chinese that in the garb of a military exercise, they had mustered heavy armament with the mass deployment of troops along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh which could be traced even by commercial satellites," sources told ANI.
The Indian side also raised its objections over the issue of Chinese buildup and construction activities in the Depsang Plains and the DBO sector, they said.
The Indian side raised the point about the Chinese troops creating obstacles in patrolling of Indian Army troops from Patrolling Point 10 to Patrolling Point 13 and indulging in large scale construction, the sources said.
Before taking up the Depsang issue in a major way, the Indian side was discussing the disengagement process at the four friction points including the Galwan valley (PP-14), PP-15, Hot Springs, Gogra and Finger area.
After several rounds of discussions, both the sides have now agreed for a phased disengagement under which both sides are moving back from their respective positions to create temporary no patrolling zones to avoid any May 18-19-type face off in the Finger area or the June 15 violent clash at the Galwan valley in which soldiers from both sides had lost their lives.
As per sources, the Chinese Army started its summer wargames in the areas east of its highway connecting Xinjiang and Tibet with heavy troops and weaponry but quietly moved them towards India using all means of mobility including a large number of trucks used for transporting soil to a nearby civilian airfield being converted into a military one.
The Chinese buildup which includes two divisions (20,000 plus) worth of troops deployed near the Indian territory in Ladakh and a reserve division (10,000 plus) in the rear position in Northern Xinjiang from where they can reach the front areas within 48 hours given the easy terrain and infrastructure available on the Chinese side, they said.
In reaction to the Chinese troops' mobilisation, India has also deployed more than 35,000 troops in the Ladakh sector which include two additional mountain divisions which have been drawn in from nearby areas.
The additional divisions include a formation which every year spends at least six to seven months in the extreme weather of the Ladakh region and formations whose most of the units had done a stint in the high altitude areas.
The Chinese troops had started its buildup in April-May timeframe and the first face-off between the two sides had started in the Galwan valley area and adjoining patrolling points where the Chinese had come with their heavy vehicles and armoured regiments.