The ongoing border crisis with China, which began in May 2020, has been largely unresolved by the Narendra Modi government. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has encroached on 26 of the 65 patrolling points in Ladakh, causing Indian soldiers to be unable to access them. Despite 20 rounds of talks, the Chinese side has not agreed to Indian proposals for disengagement in Depsang and Demchok or de-escalation in the five areas where disengagement has occurred.
There has been no tangible progress in border talks since September 2022, and Beijing has rejected calls for a return to the status quo ante. Indian military officials have stopped mentioning the phrase’status quo ante’ and no longer press the demand for full restoration of patrolling rights on the border.
This raises suspicions about the Modi government’s concessionary intentions in declaring the border crisis as “resolved” even at the cost of unfavorable terms for India. An interview by Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi indicated a new approach, focusing on peace and stability and preventing violence. However, the emphasis on negotiations and a ‘positive approach’ from China, while the PLA has made territorial advances and denied Indian soldiers its patrolling rights, is baffling.
In June 2020, Naravane wrote about the Galwan clash in Eastern Ladakh, where 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese soldiers died. He also discussed the political directions given to him by the defence minister, Rajnath Singh, on 31 August 2020, after the threat of a full-blown conflict with the PLA in the Kailash Range became real.
Naravane was handed a hot potato and given carte blanche to pass orders to the Northern Army Commander to move a troop of their tanks to the forward slopes of the Pass and depress their guns so that the PLA would be staring down the barrels of their guns. The Northern Army Commander recommended that the only way to stop the PLA was by opening up with their own medium artillery.
Naravane’s memoirs are under government vetting, and his controversial disclosures are unlikely to be published. India’s corporate media, including correspondents, have ignored his claims. Naravane argued that due to ongoing conflict between India and China in Eastern Ladakh, negotiations are ripe for resumption to resolve the boundary question.
Former foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale and former Northern Army Commander Lt. Gen D.S. Hooda have proposed a limited and measured approach to breaking the impasse at the Laotian Economic Corridor (LAC) between India and China.
Gokhale suggests that India must accept the new reality on the China border and find a way to restore peace and tranquility in the border areas. Hooda suggests establishing no-patrolling buffer zones or patrolling patterns agreed upon with a specified periodicity to avoid face-offs between opposing troops. He also suggests additional hotlines and meeting points along the LAC to resolve local incidents promptly.
The idea seems to be rooted in the need to quickly end the crisis, even if China continues to hold an upper hand. Major General Ashok Mehta has stated that the establishment is gripped by the fear of annoying China and escalating the conflict. He believes that there are no buyers for conducting any game-changing operation similar to Snow Leopard or exploiting China’s Malacca dilemma. A determined approach doesn’t need the current narrative being constructed.
