Troops have disengaged in most localities, says Chinese ambassador

The Chinese and Indian border troops are gradually disengaging at the Galwan Valley after effective consultations have been held between the two sides via diplomatic and military channels: spokesperson of China’s National Defense Ministry

Later, “China is not a ‘strategic threat’ to India … It is short-sighted to deny long history of peaceful co-existence between China and India. Both sides should grasp fundamental interests of two countries & their peoples”. To move China-India relations forward, I believe that we need to straighten our views on several key issues. First, China is committed to peaceful development. Sun Weidong, Chinese Ambassador to India

Though any comment yet to come from any Indian sluggishly moving offices. 

• Chinese troops have so far been reluctant to step back further from Pangong Tso and Patrolling Point 17A at Gogra, two of four friction points along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh.
• Ahead of the fifth round of talks between Corps Commanders of the two armies, Chinese ambassador said on Thursday said border troops of both countries “have disengaged in most localities”.
• “Border troops have disengaged in most localities, situation on ground is de-escalating and temperature is coming down.
• He further said that both sides should properly handle differences to bring bilateral relations back to normal track.
• “Both sides should grasp fundamental interests of two countries and their peoples, stick to friendly cooperation,” he said.
• The India Today claimed from sources that around 50 troops each on both sides are still within a km of each other at this location.
• At PP 14 (Galwan Valley) and PP 15 (Hot Springs), the two other friction points, disengagement has already taken place.
• In Pangong Tso, Chinese troops had come up to Finger 4 on the north bank, 8 km west of Finger 8 which India says marks the LAC.
• As part of the disengagement process, the Chinese vacated the Finger 4 base area and headed towards Finger 5. But they still occupy positions on the ridgeline at Finger 4.
• Last week, after a virtual meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs, New Delhi said both sides agreed on “early and complete disengagement”.

We remain deeply concerned by actions in South China Sea that are destabilizing & could provoke escalation. Last week, Australia launched a note with UN Secy Gen refusing China’s unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea. We stated what we said following a 2016 tribunal which ruled against China’s claims. Australia rejects China’s claims to historic rights and internal waters…Barry O’Farrell, Australian High Commissioner to India told ANI

India to add 35,000 troops along China border as tensions simmer

• India is preparing to position an additional 35,000 troops along its disputed Himalayan border with China as the possibility of an early resolution to the deadly tensions between the two neighbors fades.
• The move would change the status quo along the contested 3,488 km (2,162 mile) Line of Actual Control (LAC) and stretch the nation’s already tight military budget, senior Indian officials said, asking not to be identified citing rules on speaking to the media.
• “The nature of the LAC, at least in Ladakh, has changed forever,” the director of Delhi-based think-tank The United Service Institution of India and retired major general, B K Sharma said.
• “Additional troops rushed by either side will not move back, unless there is a rapprochement at the highest political level.”
• For now, the skirmishes have stopped. And after several rounds of high level military talks, Beijing said troops were disengaging in most locations.
• “Currently the two sides are actively preparing for the 5^th round of commander-level talks to resolve outstanding issues on the ground,” China ministry of foreign affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular briefing in Beijing on Tue.
• “We hope the Indian side will work towards the same goal with China, implement the two sides’ consensus and jointly uphold peace and tranquility along the border.”
• As per The Indian Express report on the situation at LAC, a government official was quoted as saying, “New Delhi has decided to stick to its strategy of ‘incremental change despite slow progress’ while pressing for the end-goal, the restoration of status quo ante as of April.
• It has also ruled out application of any kind of military pressure against China as an option, so as to avoid any inadvertent escalation.”
• About 60% of defense spending goes to paying salaries for India’s 1.3 million soldiers – one of the world’s largest standing armies.
• World 3^rd largest military spenders, leaving the forces with obsolete equipment and not enough ammunition.

Strategic and tactical significance of areas of intrusion-from Lt Gen H S Panag (R)

• The terrain of Eastern Ladakh is unique. Up to Leh and 150 km to the east, the terrain is extremely rugged with narrow valleys and surrounding hill ranges, varying in height from 15,000 to 23,000 feet.
• This topography also prevails up to 130 km north of Pangong Tso along the Shyok River up to Depsang plains and east of this line for 60-80 km.
• Beyond these areas is the extension of the Tibetan plateau.
• The valleys become broader, the base height rises to 14,000-15,000 feet, and surrounding hill ranges are a mix of rugged and relatively gradual terrain.
• The latter terrain is only 2,000-3,000 feet higher than the valleys and after reconnaissance, it can be negotiated by tracked and high-mobility vehicles.
• Since peace prevailed along the LAC, it was not defended like the Line of Control (LoC), but only policed by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
• The main defenses of 3 Infantry Division were based on the Ladakh Range and Pangong Range in the Indus Valley and Chushul bowl, respectively.
• The DBO Sector being a plateau, the defenses are based on relatively higher features. The Galwan Valley was only policed by the ITBP.
• The main defenses are based on the sound principle of dominating heights and convergence of avenues of approach. This left a forward zone of 10-80 km to the east, which was policed by the ITBP and kept under surveillance.
• In the event of a war, this area was to be dominated by selective defensive/delaying positions and mechanized forces.
• While the bases of the formations are well to the rear, sufficient force was maintained near main defenses for preemptive tasks on and across the LAC, particularly in areas of differing perceptions. However, we failed to exercise this option.
• The LAC was based on the positions held by the rival forces at the time of the 1993 agreement.
• China’s Nov 7^th 1959 assertion (also known as 1960 claim line) north of Pangong Tso and in Depsang Plains was further west of the LAC by 10 and 20 km, respectively.
• The alignment of the 1959 claim line had been carefully planned by the Chinese.
• It is tactical in nature. It allows the PLA to cut off our forward deployment in all sectors and completely isolate all sectors from each other, particularly DBO Sector.
• The preemptive intrusions and concentration of troops at Depsang, Galwan river, Hot Springs-Gogra-Kongka La and north of Pangong Tso places India at a disadvantage in a war.
• The DBO Sector is likely to be completely isolated by an offensive in Galwan River valley and the bottleneck area at Burtse.
• Hot Springs-Gogra-Kongka La area can be cut off at Phobrang by an offensive from Finger 4 and Ane La.
• This places us at the risk of losing our entire territory east and north-east of Pangong Tso along with the DBO Sector.
• Also, our major retort options get restricted to Chushul Sector, Indus River Valley Sector and Chumar Sector.

As tensions rise in SCS, US signs MoU to support Vietnamese fishermen against Chinese ‘intimidation’

• As tensions flare-up in the South China Sea (SCS), which has been boiling for some time now, the prime contestants seem to be Vietnam and China.
• Both countries have been locked again in a stand-off, contesting each other’s claims of maritime rights and seabed exploration endeavors.
• China has taken a series of provocative actions in the waters since the start of this year as the world is busy battling with the Covid-19 pandemic caused by coronavirus that originated in Wuhan city of China.
• The Pentagon said the military exercises were the latest in a long string of China’s actions “to assert unlawful maritime claims and disadvantage its Southeast Asian neighbors in the SCS.” It urged China to reduce its militarization and coercion of its neighbors in the waters.
• The renewed tensions repeat a familiar pattern the world has witnessed repeatedly regarding Chinese conduct in the South China Sea disputes.
  • It enhances the fragility of the situation between the claimant states in this strategic expanse of sea waters.
  • The Maritime Safety Administration of China’s Hainan Province had held military exercises near Vietnam’s Parcel Islands on July 1-5.
  • China’s actions triggered a huge backlash in Vietnam and sent a diplomatic note to protest the illegal exercises, urging non-repetition of the incident.
  • Foreign Ministry said the exercises violated Vietnam’s sovereignty, complicating negotiations for a Code of Conduct of Parties (COC) in the SCS between China and ASEAN, and affecting peace in the region.
  • The country has multiple times condemned China’s illegal actions in the waters, claiming full legal basis and historical evidence to affirm its sovereignty over the Spratly and Paracel Islands under international law.
  • All activities conducted by any party near either island without prior consent from Vietnam hold no value it has stressed.
  • The US Defense Department has criticized China’s military exercises in the South China Sea, calling it a violation of China’s commitments in maintaining stability in the region.
  • In June, a Chinese Coast Guard patrol vessel and a speedboat chased, rammed and damaged the Vietnamese fishing boat near Lincoln Island in Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) Archipelago.
  • On April 2, another Chinese Coast Guard vessel had rammed and sunk a fishing boat while it was fishing off Woody (Phu Lam) Island in the Paracels. Vietnam condemned the act, and the US and the Philippines joined in the criticism.
  • The Vietnamese fisheries society said that “Such actions by China have occurred many times and are increasing relentlessly, causing insecurity and discontent among Vietnam’s fishermen, reducing Vietnam’s fishing production, causing serious economic losses to fishermen, infringing on Vietnam’s sovereignty and violating Vietnamese and international laws”.
  • It called on authorities to strongly condemn and immediately stop China from obstructing and ramming Vietnamese fishing boats in Vietnam’s sovereign waters, and take resolute measures against China’s unreasonable actions.
  • The US and Vietnam have signed a memorandum of understanding, which includes support against illegal “intimidation” of the latter’s fishermen at sea.
• The MOU, which aims to strengthen Vietnam’s fisheries management and law enforcement capabilities. “We look forward to working together with Vietnam to strengthen the sustainability of its fisheries and support its fishers against illegal intimidation,” said the US Ambassador to Vietnam, Dan Kritenbrink, at the signing ceremony in Hanoi.
• The MOU came a week after the US released statements affirming its stance in supporting Southeast Asian nations including Vietnam in disputes with China at sea.
• “Beijing uses intimidation to undermine the sovereign rights of Southeast Asian coastal states in the South China Sea, bully them out of offshore resources, assert unilateral dominion, and replace international law with ‘might makes right’,” said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
• The US rejected China’s claims to most of the South China Sea, which Vietnam calls the East Sea, including waters surrounding Vietnam’s Vanguard Bank, Luconia Shoals off Malaysia, waters in Brunei’s EEZ, and Natuna Besar off Indonesia.
• It dismissed China’s action to harass other states’ fishing or hydrocarbon development in these waters as unlawful.

Australia likely to face unbearable consequences-Chines State Media Global Times warned

Foreign Ministry, China, “The real reason that the US uses various excuses to oppress certain Chinese companies is because the companies are Chinese companies and industry leaders, not because the US is doing so for national security or democracy and freedom, FM spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

• The US and Australia are teaming up to levy criticism against China and vow to strengthen military cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, especially after the meetings between their foreign and defense ministers.
• Experts warned that by cooperating with the US’ anti-China policies, Australia, as an opportunist, would not climb to a more important position in the region as it has always longed for, but will face unbearable consequences by undermining its ties with China.
• Compared to political provocations, Australia’s deepening of military ties with the US will raise vigilance from China, including from its citizenry, even more, which will more likely hurt Australia’s interests further, analysts noted.
• The move has been described by Australian media as designed to renew and strengthen a “united front against China.”
• After the two-day talks, the two allies released a joint statement in which China has been mentioned in almost every topic.
• They accused China of violating international norms in the South China Sea and criticized China’s policies in its Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Approved by the Central Military Commission, the PLA will attend the International Army Games 2020 in Russia that is scheduled from Aug 23 to Sept 5. The PLA’s decision to attend the games aims to strengthen China-Russia militaries’ strategic cooperation, and deepen their cooperation on military exercises amid the global efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic: Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defense, told a press conference on Thurs

The 24^th Meeting of the China-South Korea Economic and Trade Joint Commission will be held on Sat in Qingdao, E. China’s Shandong Province. It will be the first face-to-face govt-level meeting on economic cooperation between China and another country since the COVID19 outbreak: MOFCOM

Three males and one female, who claimed to be students, have been arrested for breaching the National Security Law. They were suspected of secession by advocating HK Independence. Investigation is underway: HKPF Hongkong-Global Times.