Amidst escalating tensions at Pangong Fingers, India sends more troops

New Delhi, Sep 11: A large number of Indian troops are being deployed along the Finger 3 Ridgeline on the north bank of Pangong Tso in Ladakh. This comes in the wake of the Chinese PLA increasing deployment significantly.

Sources tell OneIndia that the Indian Army has occupied heights overlooking the Chinese PLA positions at Finger 4 along Pangong Tso. These actions were carried out along with pre-emptive actions to occupy heights near the southern bank of Pangong Tso at the end of August.

The Chinese never vacated Finger 4 Ridgeline despite agreeing to completely disengage.

The Chinese instead moved 2,000 soldiers on the upper reaches of the ridge Tuesday night. India too moved the same number of troops to the Finger 3 ridgeline.

On August 29, India had prevented the PLA from grabbing Indian territory.

This is a clear indicator that India has taken a completely different stand when it comes to the Chinese. In the past three decades, the PLA continued to nibble into the LAC and the Indian troops maintained a defensive position and stuck to patrolling points only as was defined by the China Study Group.

This time the mindset has changed drastically and the Indian troops are not willing to stick to patrolling points which fall short of the Indian perception. Since the aggression by the PLA in May, India has matched in terms of deployment of its military assets as it is unwilling to lose even an inch of land.

In response to the intimidating military moves by China, India has moved its front-line tanks and infantry combat vehicles to the strategic heights held by its soldiers on the southern bank of Pangong Tso.

The People's Liberation Army is parading it tank squadrons, mechanised infantry squads in addition to thousands of soldiers to threaten the Indian Army. It may be recalled that India had prevented the PLA from grabbing Indian territory on August 29.

A top official said that the conflict is below the threshold of a shooting war, but it could take any trajectory. The PLA has deployed around 5,000 soldiers in the area. The official however added that India is fully prepared to deal with any contingency.

China has deployed a sizeable number of military assets in the Eastern Ladakh theatre, which includes 5,000 troops, heavy artillery, missiles, air defence systems and 150 aircraft. India won the other hand is matching every move made by China.

Further the Indian ground commanders have been told to take decisions on the spot. This is because there should be no time lost in reacting to the PLA. The official cited above also said that the PLA has been provocative and wants a fight.