Though it eventually refrained from back-stabbing India during the Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting at Vienna, China continues to needle Indian forces all along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control (LAC).
In the latest set of incursions across the LAC, Chinese patrols once again "transgressed" into the Indian side at the strategically located Pangong Tso lake as well as Trig Heights in eastern Ladakh on September 2-3, said sources.
There were both boat and vehicle-mounted People's Liberation Army (PLA) patrols on the north bank of Pangong Tso, two-third of which is controlled by China as it extends from India to Tibet at an altitude of 4,218 metres, on September 2.
A day later, a vehicle-mounted PLA patrol crossed over at the Trig Heights. "The patrol was on our side for quite some time before it went back. PLA has really stepped up incursions into our side in eastern Ladakh region this year, with well over 100 transgressions being recorded there since January," said a source.
Pangong Tso and Trig Heights have become quite contentious since the 1999 Kargil conflict, with China even constructing a "track" right up to the lake's southern bank during that time to demonstrate its support to Pakistan. China, it's assessed, wants the border to be drawn in a straight line on the lake to gain strategic advantage. It seeks similar gains in Trig Heights and Demchok areas in the western sector.
But eastern Ladakh is not the only region where Chinese patrols have been flexing their muscles in an "aggressive" border management policy to put pressure on India and lay claim to disputed areas along the LAC.
Similar Chinese moves have been witnessed in the eastern sector in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim in recent months. In fact, perturbed by the incursions into Sikkim, "a settled matter" as far as India is concerned, the government in June had made some strong public statements about taking up the matter with China.
With over 80 incursions across the 206-km Sikkim-Tibet border being recorded since January, the Indian establishment is especially worried about the so-called 2.1 sq km "finger area", the northern-most tip of Sikkim, which China is claiming as its own territory.
The government, incidentally, is now conducting a fresh survey of the northern plateau in Sikkim to counter claims by China. The survey is using latest technology to chart out the watershed in the area, which is usually used to demarcate boundaries in mountainous areas.
Many feel China's gameplan could well be to use Sikkim as a leverage in its policy of exerting pressure on India over the Tawang tract in Arunachal Pradesh. Always careful of not ruffling Chinese feathers, India often downplays intrusions by its troops, holding that they take place due to "differing perceptions" of the still-unresolved LAC.
The fact, however, remains that the step-up in incursions has been accompanied by a hardening of the Chinese posture in the never-ending border talks to delineate the LAC. What has added to the worry of Indian defence planners is the rapid build-up of military infrastructure by China all along the LAC making it possible for it to amass large troops at the border in double-quick time.
( SOURCE: tIMES OF iNDIA)
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