Ladakh stand-off: India must exercise cautious optimism

Given Beijing’s track record and its growing territorial hegemony, India needs to tread carefully

The signs of a thaw on the Ladakh border augur well for normalisation of ties between India and China. However, given Beijing’s track record and its growing territorial hegemony in the immediate neighbourhood and beyond, a cautious approach is needed to address the festering border issues. While the bilateral agreement on disengagement of troops from the north and south banks of the Pangong Lake in eastern Ladakh is a welcome development after a bitter nine-month long stand-off at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), there should be no room for complacency in view of the past experiences. Interestingly, the Chinese Defence Ministry went to town on the initiation of disengagement while New Delhi took its time preparing a detailed statement that reflected a guarded and carefully calibrated response. This was understandable, considering how China has given short shrift to a series of agreements signed over the past three decades or so. China’s misadventures in recent years have tempered India’s optimism with caution. There are also lessons to be learnt from history. Back in July, 1962, the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had welcomed the ‘partial’ withdrawal of Chinese troops from Ladakh. However, the euphoria did not last long as China invaded Indian territory barely three months later in a blatant act of betrayal. Though the pace of disengagement of Chinese troops in the last two days has been remarkably quick, India needs to constantly monitor the Chinese pullback and check for any violations. Rebuilding mutual trust will be a long-drawn-out process requiring sustained actions on the ground.

The disengagement was achieved after India stood firm on its position in east Ladakh and refused to concede any territory despite severe provocation. Under the pact, the two sides will cease their forward deployments in a phased, coordinated and verifiable manner in these areas. The breakthrough comes nearly five months after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, during a meeting in Moscow, worked out a five-point action plan to ease border tensions. The de-escalation will offer respite to the Indian troops, who have been on high alert particularly after the Galwan Valley clash of last June. The aim should be to achieve complete disengagement and restoration of the status quo. The outstanding issues regarding deployment and patrolling at some other points along the LAC in eastern Ladakh must be the focus of further discussions. In the entire Ladakh stand-off, it is clear that China had bitten off more than it can chew. What Beijing did not expect was that New Delhi India would remain steadfast in asserting its territorial position and also hit back at Chinese commercial interests in India.

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