New Delhi: With scores of soldiers injured, some badly, in the recent fracas between Indian and Chinese PLA soldiers near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, the use of unwarranted violence will be on the agenda item of the Indian delegation when the two sides meet on Saturday.
The May 5-6 fracas near the northern bank of the Pangong lake — seen in videos and pictures that went viral on social media — saw free use of fists, stone pelting and use of clubs spiked with iron nails between PLA and a composite team comprising Indian army soldiers and ITBP troopers.
"Use of spiked clubs and other crude weapons was totally disproportionate and uncalled for. It will definitely be on the agenda when the Indian and Chinese military teams meet on Saturday," a senior military source familiar with the developments for upcoming meeting told ETV Bharat.
"While all soldiers were treated locally within Ladakh, some of the injuries were quite bad," the source added.
Significantly, in a sign of willingness to de-escalate and of a build-up to the Saturday meeting, both sides are reported to be pulling back amassed troops and equipment by a km or so in the Galwan Valley, usually not a point of dispute but has become a flashpoint this time.
The other items on the agenda will include going back to the original position that existed prior to the May 5-6 violence and de-induction of the additional forces that had built up in the rear of the at least four face-off points in eastern Ladakh. After the incident, both the militaries had buttressed their positions with more soldiers, heavy vehicles and artillery guns in the rear positions of the LAC.
ETV Bharat had earlier written that on Saturday the Indian and Chinese military will be taking recourse to a scaled-up ‘rare’ level of engagement—at the lieutenant-general level—in a bid to resolve the vexed face-off near the LAC.
Read: After border brawls, India-China scale-up talks to 'rare' Lt Gen-level at Chulshul
Delegating lieutenant-general level officers to address sudden border conflagrations signify the importance attached to the incidents also underlying the fact that tactical incidents could lead to operational and strategic face-offs between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
Normally, lieutenant-general-ranked officials of the Indian and Chinese armies undertake exchange visits to each other’s military theatres.
The Indian team will comprise the 14 Corps commander Lt Gen Harendar Singh, GOC of the Leh-based 3 Mountain Division who is a major-general-ranked officer, two brigade commanders of the Pangong Tso and the Daulat Beg Oldie areas, colonels of the local formations, besides a translator.
The meeting will take place at the Chinese side at the Chushul-Moldo border point near the Spanggur Gap in eastern Ladakh.
An engagement at this level is outside the five implicit mechanisms under the overall Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) agreed to between the two countries to sort out disputes along the 3,488-km-long border.
To defuse confrontational situations, the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) lays down mechanisms that include flag meetings, periodic meetings between field commanders and government officials, the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination for India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) at the joint secretary as well as director-general border affairs level, and an annual defence dialogue at the defence secretary level.
Read: Indian Army looking 'carefully' at possible 'tactical' military errors in eastern Ladakh
