Following the recent agreement between India and China to withdraw the two countries’ troops from the standoff area, there are indications that the two armies are implementing the agreement by each moving backwards from the Bangong Lake (Bangong Tso) in eastern Ladakh.
Satellite imagery released by the Indian military shows various heavy vehicles of Chinese troops moving backwards from the standoff site north and south of Bangong Lake, and Chinese soldiers using tools such as excavators to dismantle tents, military bunkers and makeshift fortifications. Chinese army camps in the disputed Himalayan border area have been vacated.
Last week, the two nuclear powers, India and China, announced an agreement to withdraw troops, tanks and other military equipment from both sides of the Bangong Lake, where the two sides have long faced each other.
Reuters said satellite images provided by U.S. space technology company Maxar Technologies on Tuesday (Feb. 16) showed that several Chinese army camps on the northern shore of Bangong Lake had been emptied.
An Indian military officer told Reuters in New Delhi that “similar action has been taken on our side.”
Just as India-China border tensions appear to be easing, the Economic Times of India reported on Wednesday (Feb. 17) that unnamed Indian officials revealed that India is set to review and approve a number of new investment projects from China in the coming weeks.
Since the border clashes between the two countries’ armies last May that left dozens of soldiers dead, the Indian government has blocked hundreds of Chinese mobile apps on national security grounds, and Chinese investment in India has been almost entirely disrupted.
Indian officials say India may allow some (Chinese-invested) investment projects that have nothing to do with national security in the future.
Indian Defense Minister Singh recently told India’s parliament that both India and China agreed to withdraw their forces from the Bangong Tso area in a “phased, coordinated and verifiable manner.
After the withdrawal is complete, both commanders will begin discussions to end the standoff between the two sides in other areas of Ladakh.
However, there are precedents of Chinese troops quietly returning after retreating from standoff sites, and some Indian experts have cautioned the Indian side to verify the Chinese withdrawal.
The standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in the area began in April last year. At that Time, India accused Chinese troops of intruding into Indian-controlled areas along the Line of Actual Control. The Line of Actual Control is a temporary boundary line between the two sides. The Chinese side did not accept the accusation, saying that Chinese troops were operating within the area under their control.
The standoff between the two sides deteriorated sharply in May last year, when soldiers from both countries engaged in a cold-weapon melee in the Garhwan Valley in Ladakh in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed in action. The Chinese side did not release casualty figures. However, Russian and Indian media later reported that more than 40 Chinese troops were killed in action.
It was the first time in decades that the two sides had suffered such heavy casualties along the 3,500-kilometer-long border.
After that, the two sides engaged in several rounds of diplomatic and military talks, but none reached a consensus. It was only this month that the two sides agreed to the first phase of the withdrawal.
Indian officials said, “What is happening is that the troops of both countries, particularly on the northern and southern shores of Lake Bangong Tso, are going to pull back from eye-to-eye distance and lower the tension to pave the way for further cooling.”
However, some experts caution that the current pullback is only the first step in a protracted process. Shivshankar Menon, India’s former national security adviser, said, “It should be far too early to fully disengage and reach the agreement we want.”
Menon said, “We need much more than disengagement. We need to get back to the position we were in before last April.”
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