LEH: In a disturbing development Indian forces have lost access to 26 out of 65 patrol points in Eastern Ladakh amidst the ongoing standoff between the two countries following multiple attempts by the Chinese armed forces to infiltrate into Indian territory.
This shocking revelation came from a police report from Ladakh. This report was filed the week before at an annual conference of the top brass of police from across the country. The event was also attended by the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the National Security Advisor of the country.
"Presently there are 65 PPs (Patrolling Points) starting from Karakoram pass to Chumur which are to be patrolled regularly by the ISFs (Indian Security Forces). Out of 65 PPs, our presence is lost in 26 PPs (i.e. PP no. 5-17, 24-32, 37, due to restrictive or no patrolling by the ISFs," mention ed a report from PD Nitya who is the Superintendent of Police of Leh.
"Later on, China forces us to accept the fact that as such areas have not seen the presence of ISFs or civilians since long, the Chinese were present in these areas. This leads to a shift in the border under control of ISFs towards Indian side and a "buffer zone" is created in all such pockets which ultimately leads to loss of control over these areas by India. This tactic of PLA (China's People's Liberation Army) to grab land inch-by-inch is known as 'Salami slicing'," it added.
According to the report by the police official, the Chinese forces have taken advantage of the buffer areas during the time of de-escalation talks to install cameras on the hills and monitor the movement of the Indian troops. They claim the buffer regions to be Chinese territory and then push the Indians inside to create more buffer areas out of the Indian territory. Similar strategies were in place in the Galwan Valley which saw hand-to-hand combat between both forces leading to several casualties on both sides.
The government of India is yet to give any official comment regarding this development, but an official mentioned that Indian territory has not been encroached upon by the Chinese according to a report by The Hindu.
Also Watch: