New Delhi: A report on The Telegraph quotes military veterans expressing concern that the creation of “non-militarised buffer zones” in east Ladakh will force India to agree to China’s interpretation of the Line of Actual Control.
These zones are inside lines claimed by India and are at multiple transgression points, the report says.
A former lieutenant general likened the move to “abject capitulation by the Indian government”.
It will have forced a de facto change in China’s favour, the lieutenant general said, adding that it makes it difficult for India to return to a pre-April 2020 status quo.
Clashes which occurred between India and China on the Line of Actual Control or LAC in Galwan in April 2020, claimed the lives of 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese soldiers.
Military and diplomatic-level talks are afoot over disengagement.
Last year, asserting that transgressions along the LAC continue to have the potential for escalation, Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Pande had said the border with China requires constant, close monitoring as it could lead to a broader conflict.
Right now, the Chinese seem to be in a position of huge military and tactical advantage in the area, a former brigadier further told The Telegraph. “It is very much evident that by forcing India to agree to the creation of buffer zones at multiple transgression points, the PLA is now dictating terms and trying to force India to agree to its reinterpretation of the LAC,” he added.
A former colonel also said that China has so far not shown any “willingness to accept restoration of the status quo” and have not even left the Depsang Valley.
