By Vineet Kr. Dikshit

NewsGate Press Network

Its now an open secret.

The situation along the Chinese border line specially in Ladakh is very serious and the current stand-off between the Indian Army and Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) of China is at uneasy almost eye-ball to eye-ball level.

This unhappy disclosure has come from none other than S Jaishankar, the External Affairs Minister.

In an interview published in the rediff.com earlier on Thursday, 27-August-2020,  S Jaishankar is quoted stating that the current stand-off  between India and China “is surely the most serious situation after 1962.”

Everyone knows that 1962 Indo-China war was a bad dream.  India had fought a nasty conflict over a border dispute with China specially in wake of Tibetan uprising triggered by Dalai Lama being given political asylum in India in 1959.

Rediff.com report quoting Jaishankar says  – “In fact, after 45 years, we have had military casualties on this border. The quantum of forces currently deployed by both sides at the LAC (Line of Actual Control) is also unprecedented”.

The crisis is serious at two prime locations – at the disputed Pangong Lake area and at the Depsang plains in Eastern Ladakh.

Trouble started soon after Indian army had constructed a difficult all-weather bridge across the Shyok river in Eastern Ladakh.

This bridge had shortened the time travel to reach the northern most IAF airstrip known as Advance Landing Ground (ALG) at Daulat Beg Oldie popularly known as DBO Airstrip.

Within hours of inauguration of this bridge across the turbulent Shyok River, a tributary of Indus, the PLA troops moved-in within the striking distance of Indian Army-ITBP posts.

PLA is reported to have placed its medium range rocket regiments both along  north-eastern side of Pangong Lake as well as near the ALG at DBO.

This advance airstrip at DBO is not far from the Karakorum Pass and the Siachen Glacier zone.

Earlier indications were that the PLA’s movement might be of temporary in nature or at least till the onset of winters months.

But soon after the border talks had failed to resolve the crisis, the Chinese PLA began building new concrete structures well across their LAC limits. As of now, both armies have deployed matching number of soldiers in combat formations. And the stand-off appears to be extending well deep into the freezing winter months at Ladakhi heights.