Last month, an aggressive cross-border skirmish between Chinese and Indian forces resulted in minor injuries to troops at the Pangong Tso lake, located in the Himalayan region of Ladakh. The incident has been followed in recent weeks by unconfirmed reports of tensions in the mountainous area, though neither side had publicly acknowledged anything out of the ordinary.The Indian Army has deployed more tanks closer to the Chinese border in the Himalayas following conflict at the Pangong Tso lake. In the weeks since then, both countries mobilized thousands of troops, armoured vehicles and combat aircraft. The T-90MS and T-72M1 tanks were transported to an unspecified location closer to the de facto border, known as Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has organized a large-scale maneuver operation featuring thousands of paratroopers plus armored vehicles to the country’s high-altitude northwestern region over a long distance from Central China’s Hubei Province amid border tensions between China and India. These maneuvers were clearly organized to demonstrate to India the extent of China’s military capabilities in their border regions. Several hundred pieces of military equipment were also involved in the operation, which ended successfully in just a few hours. The mobilization operation came at a time when China and India face a new wave of tensions due to high altitude border issues, as reports say both sides have reinforced their border defenses.
India and China are deploying two Lieutenant General-rank officers for talks this week to resolve the ongoing standoff in Ladakh, stepping beyond established protocols as tensions on the border refuse to die down. India’s 14 Corps Commander meet the chief of China’s Southern Xinjiang Military District on 6 June in eastern Ladakh after the protocol in place — where talks involve local tactical commanders — failed to resolve the month-long border row. The proposed lieutenant general-level talks come after multiple rounds of military dialogue, at various levels, failed to achieve any breakthrough even as diplomatic parleys continue between Delhi and Beijing to calm the situation in eastern Ladakh, which has seen a heavy troop build-up and transgressions at a number of locations since early May.
