India-China LAC standoff continues amid PLA's provocative action in eastern Ladakh

New Delhi: Two days after the Chinese PLA's attempt to change the status quo in the South Bank area of Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh was repulsed by Indian Army, the situation on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is now very tense. India has said that China again engaged in "provocative action" even as their military talks were underway and termed the PLA bid a reflection of "complete disregard" to bilateral understandings.

The situation in Ladakh is now very tense as the armies of both countries are face to face. The soldiers of both the nation are in each other's firing range. The situation appears to be under control, but anything can happen, explains the DNA report.

The question, however, arises what options are left for China as the armies of the two Asian neighbours are standing face to face. In such a situation, what will be the next step of China, which is understood to have left with three options?

The first is that Chinese PLA should return; the second is that China should remain ready for war; while the third option is is that both the armies should maintain the status quo.

Irked over its strategic debacle, which option China will choose is difficult to assess. China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi is currently on European tour stated that the borders between India and China are not been fixed, therefore, such problems will persist. 

Even as India has surprised China by repulsing PLA's bid to infiltrate along LAC, the situation has become very tense and this may lead to opening up several fronts in the border areas. Sources, however, told Zee News that the Indian Army is fully prepared to face any situation.

Notably, China is perplexed over the Indian Army's response to PLA's attempt to transgress into eastern Ladakh. China had planned to occupy the southern shore of Pangong Lake in Ladakh, but the trespass bid was foiled on the night of August 29 and 30. 

Now, India is at a higher and stronger position in comparison to the Chinese army in this area. This has given such a blow to the PLA that China has made 5 different statements in the last 24 hours. It has repeatedly stated that India has entered into its territory and should call back its troops. 

In one of these statements, China said that it never wanted to occupy even an inch of the land of another country. China currently has border disputes with 18 countries, including India. This simply shows that India's action has compelled China to talk about respecting the borders of other countries. 

With the largest army in the world, China has never made an appeal to any country to settle the dispute with peace. The emergence of New India has made China understand that the real strength does lie not in numbers but in the spirit of the army. Indian soldiers are now sitting at a height of 15,000 feet in the Chushul sector of Ladakh, while Chinese soldiers are positioned in lower areas. 

Despite its presence in Galwan, China has to deploy 10 times more soldiers to take on Indian men. India has already stepped up its vigil of this area with the help of radar and night vision cameras. The high altitude area that India has occupied is known as Black Top and is a strategically significant location. It can monitor large areas around the Chushul sector.

Large vehicles, cannons and big weapons can be easily transported to ​​Chushul area in Ladakh. Apart from this, India has also deployed a large number of troops on important fronts like Rezang La and Rekin La.

Disappointed with its defeat, China is now accusing India of violating the border. China has claimed it has "not occupied an inch" of other country's territory nor "provoked" war in its 70-odd year history and its border troops never crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India.

On Tuesday, there were 8 hours of dialogue between the Brigadier-level officers of the Indian and Chinese military but the negotiations failed to yield any result.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava today said that the Indian side was able to prevent these attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo due to the timely "defensive action", and asked China to "discipline and control" their frontline troops from undertaking such "provocative" actions.

He said the Chinese side violated previously agreed on understanding and engaged in provocative military manoeuvres in the late night of August 29 and on August 30 in an attempt to change the status quo in the South Bank area. The attempt seen as China's bid to open a new front in the prolonged border standoff in a fresh confrontation was thwarted by the Indian troops.

As tension mounted in eastern Ladakh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the situation in the region at a two-hour meeting which was attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and Army Chief Gen MM Naravane among others.

Government sources have reportedly stated that India will maintain its aggressive posturing in all sensitive areas along the LAC to effectively deal with any Chinese "misadventure".