Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping today held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, in which both the leaders participated. This is the first “formal bilateral meeting” between PM Modi and President Xi since the military standoff between the two countries began in 2020.
After the military clash in Galwan Valley, relations between India and China were deeply affected and came to a sudden halt. It took four years of diplomatic and military-level talks between the two sides to finally reach an agreement to restore the status quo ante before the standoff in 2020.
Both countries welcomed the move and after agreeing on withdrawal of troops in less than 72 years, the two leaders met in Russia today.
To understand what really happened in 2020, what the friction points were, and what China had built up since then – which has now been destroyed, we need maps and satellite images.
understanding the map
This is a map of Ladakh with the Line of Actual Control or LAC marked in red. The area between the LAC and the original border in black is the Aksai Chin area of Ladakh which has been occupied by China since the 1962 war. While the Galwan Valley is where the military clash took place in May, 2020, there were several other friction points, such as – Depsang, Galwan, Gogra Hot Springs, Pangong Tso and Demchok.
Soon after the 1959 rebellion in China and the occupation of Tibet that year, China began claiming areas falling in Ladakh, an “integral and inalienable” part of India. During the 1962 India-China war, Chinese troops crossed the original border but later had to retreat. However he never retreated from Aksai Chin.
The dotted red line in the map above shows the approximate patrolling points established by India and are the farthest points as far as Indian troops patrol. All the areas marked along the LAC are points where Chinese troops blocked Indian troops from reaching the last patrolling point, which will last till 2020. This led to a military standoff between India and China.
Following the Galwan clash in May, 2020, both sides brought in reinforcements – thousands of troops and military hardware ranging from tanks and artillery guns to fighter jets and drones. At this stage both sides started talks at both diplomatic and military levels.
Disengagement talks began and both sides created disengagement zones, also called buffer zones, in the areas of Galwan – where the skirmish took place, Gogra Hot Springs and Pangong.
What is buffer zone?
- As a result of a complaint, troops from both sides agreed to move back a certain number of kilometres, and the area falling in between, including the disputed points, would not be occupied by troops from either side. The structures that had been built by both sides at these locations during the standoff were also removed as disengagement talks progressed over months and years.
satellite images
Here is a set of satellite images showing how the situation has evolved since 2020:
This image shows the northern bank of Pangong Lake, where in June, 2020, Chinese troops came into the area that India claims and marked China’s flag with writing in Mandarin below it that “This area belongs to China “. This was the time when the Chinese had come right near Pangong Lake.
This second photo is also from the northern bank of Pangong Lake and is the place where the Chinese had built a large construction area.
This third image shows the southern bank of Pangong Lake where Chinese troops brought their boats (on the left side of the image) and the right side shows how Beijing eventually removed these as the disengagement process proceeded at a slow but steady pace. There was speed.
This fourth picture is from where it all started – Galwan Valley – where the clash took place in which soldiers from both sides were killed. China established and built many structures along the banks of the river and in the area where the river flows. In this photo the LAC is about 400 meters south where the river is seen bending to the right. These were the areas where Indian soldiers used to patrol earlier, but in 2020, Chinese soldiers tried to stop them from doing so.
In this fifth satellite image, we take a look at the Gogra Hot Springs area – an area that also saw conflict in 1962. The screen is divided into two parts – the left shows Chinese construction in 2021, which they later destroy in 2022 and vacate the area, as seen on the right.
The sixth satellite image shows the relocated Chinese base. It was installed by China 3 kilometers south of the site vacated in the image shown above.
This seventh image gives a clear picture of where the Chinese had built a structure and where they moved as disengagement talks continued. This was part of the buffer zone that was created in this particular area.
The eighth image shows the area of Depsang – an area of real concern. At a place called Y-Junction in Depsang, Chinese troops have set up a base and are preventing Indian troops from patrolling to the point where they used to do before 2020. As the photo shows, Indian troops have been prevented from moving east (right). If the latest agreement is reached to shift the status quo to a pre-2020 time frame, Indian troops will now be able to patrol to the furthest point where they used to earlier.
What did PM Modi say to XI Jinping in their first official meeting after 2020?
“Your Excellency, I am pleased to meet you and as you mentioned, this is a formal meeting between us after five years. I believe that the importance of India-China relations is not just for the citizens of our two countries, but it It is also very important for the peace, stability and progress of the entire world.
Excellency, we welcome the consensus reached on the border issues that have arisen over the last 4 years. It should be our priority to ensure that there is peace and stability on our border. Mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity should be the basis of our bilateral relations. Today we have got a chance to talk on all these issues and I am confident that we will have these conversations with an open mind and our future conversations will be constructive. Thank you.”
