China 'gobbles’ up 640 sq km of Indian land in Ladakh

DC | Sridhar Kumaraswami | 05th Sep 2013

New Delhi: India may have lost nearly 640 square km of area on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh in the past few months due to the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) policy of preventing Indian troops from patrolling upto the Indian perception of the LAC.

This, in military parlance, is referred to as a strategy of 'area denial' which leads to de-facto takeover of land.

According to reports aired by TV channels on Thursday, a report submitted by the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) to the Government has purportedly said the PLA has "incrementally" occupied nearly 640 square km of area on the LAC in Ladakh in the past few months. Patrolling limits set by incremental PLA area denial in the eastern Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir have now become the de facto LAC.

The report also says that there has effectively been a loss of 640 sq km of Indian territory across three sectors in Depsang, Chumar and Pangong Tso in the Ladakh region. The issue was also raised in the Lok Sabha on Thursday evening by BJP MP Yashwant Sinha who demanded a statement from the Government.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony may make a statement in Parliament on the issue on Friday. Army sources said they were not aware of any NSAB report but sought to dismiss any claims that territory had been lost to China. Indian troops are still patrolling upto the Indian perception of the LAC in Ladakh and other areas, the sources said.

The NSAB report says that Indian troops are no longer able to access at least four points on the patrol line, thereby leading to denying of an area earlier accessible to them, and that after PLA incursions in April and May, the Depsang Bulge area in Ladakh is no longer accessible to Indian forces.

The report also says that approximately 70 sq km of Indian territory is now effectively under the PLA's control at Pangong Tso. This may confirm India's worst fears that an aggressive China is now seeking to slowly push back India by stealth in a land-grab of epic proportions.

In April this year, the Chinese PLA had set up five tents in the Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) area of north-eastern Ladakh in J&K and this had led to a nearly three week-long stand-off with Indian troops in the area who then also set up tents facing the Chinese tents. Both sides had told the other to move back.

The issue was finally settled amicably after the tents of both armies were dismantled.

India says that transgressions occur by the Chinese PLA since the perception of the two countries on the demarcation of the LAC is different and that both armies patrol upto their respective perception of the LAC. This leads often to border patrols of the two armies coming face-to-face with each other.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony had recently said that both countries were engaging in "practical and effective" negotiations on working out a mechanism to resolve border issues. The Minister had however acknowledged that one "can't expect miracles" on any immediate resolution of the border dispute with China.