It was thought that after the Galwan carnage, China will display at least a reasonable amount of restraint and show honour to the protocols, the generally accepted international ones and specifically the ones forming the core of Indo-China bilateral relationship. Nothing of that sort had happened and it took just 10 days for China to return back to its ‘chores’. Thanks to technology, a series of new satellite images have revealed that Chinese structures, the bone of contention in the flare-up are again back at Galwan Valley.The most surprising aspect is that this ‘re-encroachment’ has taken place at a time when high-level military and diplomatic talks are being pursued to arrive at a settlement. China has once more revealed its dark side and the challenge this time is going to be an extraordinary and prolonged one, if the preliminary episode is taken to be an indication of the larger drama to be enacted, sooner or later.
There has been a lot of furore over the tight-lipped stand of the government with the principal ‘accusation’ that the country has been kept under unreasonable darkness over what’s going on actually over the LAC in Eastern Ladakh. Even though for the sake of argument it may be assumed that it was necessitated as a part of the security strategy, more ‘secrets’, however, are now getting revealed. The MEA on Thursday has revealed that it was as early as May beginning when China started its ‘operation’ and had been assembling large contingents of troops and armaments along the  LAC. And the latest satellite images once more prove that hostility will be taken to higher levels and the ongoing talks may not deliver ‘intended results’ which is to maintain the status quo. In this context it will be relevant to note that Galwan Valley was never a piece of controversy even during and after the 1962 war and is perhaps a newly-picked zone by China to bully India and declare its presence in the sub-continent more emphatically. Volatility of the situation can be gauged by the fact that the Indian Army Chief himself had undertaken a tour to the spot to assess the ground-level scenario.
At this juncture even when the entire focus is on Eastern Ladakh, it’s also necessary to have a proper evaluation of the situation along the lengthy China-Arunachal border and reinvestigate the purported ‘incursion’ complaints heard and discussed occasionally. Not only Ladakh or Arunachal, in every inch of the border with China, there is now an urgent need to reassess the actual statuses.
Besides diplomatic manoeuvres and strategic military reinforcements, a restructuring of the existing border area management policy is also necessary since China is pursuing a more zealous ‘acquiring spree’ policy with India.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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