NEW DELHI: Striking a note of caution a day after the India-China agreement on "patrolling arrangements" was announced, General Upendra Dwivedi on Tuesday said the two armies are trying to " restore trust " and "reassure each other", which when fully achieved should lead to disengagement , de-escalation and de-induction of troops in eastern Ladakh .
The Army chief's remarks come even as Indian and Chinese military commanders on the ground are working out the modalities for the resumption of patrolling, which will be coordinated to prevent any possibility of the rival troops confronting each other, and the subsequent disengagement and verification process at the major face-off sites in Depsang and Demchok.
The government, however, has refused so far to answer queries on whether China has extracted concessions on some patrolling rights in Arunachal in lieu of the agreement finalised for eastern Ladakh.
General Dwivedi, on his part, said India's position from the very beginning has been on the need for China to restore the status quo along the Line of Actual Control ( LAC ) as it existed before the People's Liberation Army's multiple incursions into eastern Ladakh in April-May 2020.
"Thereafter, we will be looking at disengagement, de-escalation and normal management of the LAC. And this normal management of the LAC will not just stop there. There are phases in that also," the Army chief said, after delivering a lecture at defence think-tank USI.
"As of now, we are trying to restore trust. It will get restored once we are able to see each other and we are able to convince and reassure each other that we are not creeping into the buffer zones that have been created... (the resumption of) patrolling gets you that kind of advantage and that is what is commencing. And, as we restore trust, the other stages will also follow through," he added.
India and China had earlier established no-patrol buffer zones, varying from 3-km to 10-km, after troop disengagements on both banks of Pangong Tso, including the Kailash range, Galwan Valley and the larger Gogra-Hot Springs area, with the last happening in Sept 2022. But the buffer zones have largely come up in areas that India considers its territory.
With the disengagement now slated for the strategically located Depsang Plains and the Charding Ninglung Nallah track junction near Demchok, a senior officer told TOI that India should guard against "Doklam being repeated" in eastern Ladakh. "Trust but verify. China should not be allowed to change facts on the ground and then present them as a fait accompli," he said.
There was a 73-day face-off on the Bhutanese territory of Doklam in 2017 after Indian troops blocked Chinese attempts to extend its motorable track towards the Jampheri Ridge, which overlooks the strategically vulnerable Siliguri Corridor. After the disengagement, the PLA constructed massive military infrastructure and permanently deployed troops in north Doklam.
The massive way in which China has strengthened its forward military positions as well as built "permanent defences" and infrastructure all along the 3,488-km LAC over the last four years, especially across eastern Ladakh, the PLA is unlikely to return to its peacetime locations anytime soon. "The entire process of disengagement, de-escalation and de-induction, if it actually happens on the ground, will take months," the officer said.
The Army chief's remarks come even as Indian and Chinese military commanders on the ground are working out the modalities for the resumption of patrolling, which will be coordinated to prevent any possibility of the rival troops confronting each other, and the subsequent disengagement and verification process at the major face-off sites in Depsang and Demchok.
The government, however, has refused so far to answer queries on whether China has extracted concessions on some patrolling rights in Arunachal in lieu of the agreement finalised for eastern Ladakh.
General Dwivedi, on his part, said India's position from the very beginning has been on the need for China to restore the status quo along the Line of Actual Control ( LAC ) as it existed before the People's Liberation Army's multiple incursions into eastern Ladakh in April-May 2020.
"Thereafter, we will be looking at disengagement, de-escalation and normal management of the LAC. And this normal management of the LAC will not just stop there. There are phases in that also," the Army chief said, after delivering a lecture at defence think-tank USI.
"As of now, we are trying to restore trust. It will get restored once we are able to see each other and we are able to convince and reassure each other that we are not creeping into the buffer zones that have been created... (the resumption of) patrolling gets you that kind of advantage and that is what is commencing. And, as we restore trust, the other stages will also follow through," he added.
India and China had earlier established no-patrol buffer zones, varying from 3-km to 10-km, after troop disengagements on both banks of Pangong Tso, including the Kailash range, Galwan Valley and the larger Gogra-Hot Springs area, with the last happening in Sept 2022. But the buffer zones have largely come up in areas that India considers its territory.
With the disengagement now slated for the strategically located Depsang Plains and the Charding Ninglung Nallah track junction near Demchok, a senior officer told TOI that India should guard against "Doklam being repeated" in eastern Ladakh. "Trust but verify. China should not be allowed to change facts on the ground and then present them as a fait accompli," he said.
There was a 73-day face-off on the Bhutanese territory of Doklam in 2017 after Indian troops blocked Chinese attempts to extend its motorable track towards the Jampheri Ridge, which overlooks the strategically vulnerable Siliguri Corridor. After the disengagement, the PLA constructed massive military infrastructure and permanently deployed troops in north Doklam.
The massive way in which China has strengthened its forward military positions as well as built "permanent defences" and infrastructure all along the 3,488-km LAC over the last four years, especially across eastern Ladakh, the PLA is unlikely to return to its peacetime locations anytime soon. "The entire process of disengagement, de-escalation and de-induction, if it actually happens on the ground, will take months," the officer said.
