China’s thrust in Depsang Plains had been war gamed by India in the past

New Delhi, June 26: The situation at the Depsang Plains region is what is being watched the most closely by India. The assessment suggests that the disengagement at the Depsang Plains is what is going to take the longest and the situation is extremely tense.

It is at Depsang that the Line of Control is the most disputed. There has been varying perceptions of the alignment between both India and China. In fact this area has seen major stand offs both in 2013 and 2014.

The Depsang Plains region is a major hotspot after the Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso and Hot Spring areas.

Sources tell OneIndia that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is close to a place known as Bottleneck. This is the Rakki Nallah and Jeewan Nallah are where there was a standoff in 2013.

It may be recalled that in the past the Indian Army had estimated a scenario where the Chinese would make a westward thrust in the Depsang Plains. The Indian Army has additional troops, artillery guns to hold back the Chinese here.

The source also said that any movement westwards by the PLA can threaten the Dabruk-Shyok-DBO road and the airfield at DBO. Further it was also found that there was movement of additional PLA troops over the past one week at the Depsang plains, further north of Galwan towards the Karokaram pass. This has raised concerns as the Daulat Beg Oldie is less than 25 kilometres from the Chinese posts.

Meanwhile, General M M Naravane will brief the top leadership on the situation at the Line of Actual Control amidst the tension with China.

The Indian Army Chief returned after a two day trip to east Ladakh theatre. He took stock of the situation and also met with the soldiers who were injured in the Galwan Valley clash on June 15.

The assessment to be put out by the Army Chief would be crucial for the political leadership to chart out the next course of action. The assessment is also crucial as tensions are high at the LAC, although there has been no flare up after the June 15 incident.

In addition to this the Army Chief would also be holding discussions with Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat and the Indian Air Force and Navy chiefs.

He would brief them about the force requirements on the ground. A decision on this would be handled by the CDS.