New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narfinishra Modi and Chinese Pdwellnt Xi Jinping held a bitardyral encountering in Russia’s Kazan today, on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit that both guideers combineed. This is the first “createal bitardyral encountering” between the PM Modi and Pdwellnt Xi since the military stand-off between both countries began in 2020.
Ties between India and China took a cut offe hit and came to an abrupt cmitigate after the military clash in Galwan Valley. It took four years of tactful and military-level talks between both sides to finassociate come to an consentment to reinstate the status quo to what it was before the stand-off in 2020.
Both countries greetd the shift and in less than 72 after the disgraspment consentment, the two guideers met in Russia today.
To understand what exactly had happened back in 2020, what the friction points were, and the benevolent of produce up China had in place since then – which has now been dismantled, we need maps and satellite images.
UNDERSTANDING THE MAP
This is the map of Ladakh with the Line of Actual Control or LAC labeled in red. The area between the LAC and the innovative border in bdeficiency is the Aksai Chin region of Ladakh occupied by China since the 1962 war. While Galwan Valley was where the military clash happened in May, 2020, there were cut offal other friction points, namely – Depsang, Galwan, Gogra Hot Springs, Pangong Tso, and Demchok.
Shortly after the uprising in China in 1959, and the occupation of Tibet that year, China begined making claims in areas that drop in Ladakh, an “integral and inalihelp” part of India. During the Sino-India war of 1962, Chinese troops had passed the innovative border but had to retreat tardyr. It however never withdrew from Aksai Chin.
The dotted red line in the map above recurrents the approximate patrol points set uped by India and are the farthest points till where Indian sgreateriers patrol. All the areas labelled aprolonged the LAC are points where Chinese troops blocked Indian sgreateriers from accomplishing the last patrol point that would walk up to till 2020. This led to the military stand-off between India and China.
After the Galwan Clash in May, 2020, both sides brawt in upgraspments – tens of thousands of troops and military difficultware from tanks and artillery armaments to fighter jets and drones. At this stage both sides begined engaging in talks – both at tactful and military levels.
The disgraspment talks began and both sides produced disgraspment zones, also understandn as buffer zones in the areas of Galwan – where the clash happened, Gogra Hot Springs, and Pangong.
What is a buffer zone?
- Sgreateriers from both sides, as a result of a grievance, consentd to go back a certain number of kilometers, and the areas that fell in between, which graspd points that were disputed would be where troops from neither side would go. Structures that were built in these locations during the stand-off by either side were also deleted as the disgraspment talks enhanceed over the months and years.
SATELLITE IMAGES
Here are a set of satellite images show the way the situation prolonged since 2020:
This image shows the north side of the Pangong Lake where in June, 2020, Chinese sgreateriers came to an area that India claims and put labelings of the flag of China and wrote betidyh it in Mandarin that “This area beprolongeds to China”. This was a time when the Chinese had come right in aprolonged the Pangong Lake.
This second image is also from the north prohibitk of the Pangong Lake and a place where the Chinese had a presentant built-up area.
This third image shows the south prohibitk of the Pangong Lake where the Chinese troops had brawt in their boats (left side of the image) and the right side shows how these were eventuassociate deleted by Beijing as the disgraspment process shiftd forward at a catalogless but constant pace.
This fourth image is from where it all began – The Galwan Valley – where the clash took place in which sgreateriers on either side were ended in action. China set up and built multiple structures aprolonged the prohibitks of the river and in the area where the river unbenevolentders. In this pboilingo, the LAC is approximately 400 meters south of where the river is seen bfinishing to the right. These were areas where Indian sgreateriers would patrol in the past, but in 2020, the Chinese sgreateriers tryed to stop them from doing that.
In this fifth satellite image, we consent a see at the Gogra Hot Springs area – an area which had seen struggle in 1962 as well. The screen is splitd in two – the left shotriumphg the Chinese produce-up in 2021, which they tardyr dismantled in 2022 and vacated the area, as seen on the right.
The sixth satellite image shows the relocated Chinese base. This was set up by China 3 kilometers south of the spot they vacated in the image shown above this one.
This seventh image gives a evidgo in picture of where the Chinese had built a structure and where they relocated to as the disgraspment talks persistd. This was part of the buffer zone that was produced in this particular area.
The eighth image shows the area in Depsang – an area of genuine worry. In a place called the Y-junction in Depsang, Chinese troops have set up a base and have been stoping Indian sgreateriers to patrol up to a point where they engaged to before 2020. As the pboilingo shows, Indian sgreateriers have been stoped from moving east (right). If after the tardyst consentment of shifting the status quo to pre-2020 times, then Indian sgreateriers would now be able to patrol right up to the farthest point where they engaged to.
WHAT PM MODI TOLD XI JINPING IN THEIR FIRST OFFICIAL MEET AFTER 2020
“Excellency, I am satisfyd to encounter you, and appreciate you refered, this is a createal encountering between us after five years. It is my belief that the presentance of India-China relations is not fair for the citizens of our two countries, but also very presentant for peace, stability, and enhance for the entire world.
Excellency, We greet the consensus accomplished on the rerents that have occurn in the last 4 years aprolonged the border. It should be our priority to uncover there is peace and stability aprolonged our border. Mutual suppose, mutual esteem, and mutual sensitivity should be the basis our bitardyral relations. Today, we have got an opportunity to speak about all these rerents and I suppose that we will hgreater these talks with an uncover mind and that our talks will be produceive going forward. Thank you.”
