Hours after media reports quoted sources in the Indian defence establishment that India and Chinese troops completed disengagement at Patrolling Point (PP) 15 in the Gogra-Hot Springs of eastern Ladakh in a "phased, coordinated, and verified manner", it was claimed that New Delhi actually ended up conceding to the creation of a "buffer zone" in its own territory while agreeing with the northern neighbours to withdraw troops from PP 15 on the Line of Actual Control.
The disengagement came just days after the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit where both Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and Chinese president Xi Jinping will be present.
A report in India's Deccan Herald newspaper quoted Konchok Stanzin, a councillor of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), alleging this.
Stanzin told the daily that the disengagement of the troops saw India agreeing with China to withdraw its troops not only from the face-off point at PP15 but also PP16 to Karam Singh Hill. According to him, India turned its own territory along the LAC with China into a "buffer zone" with a moratorium on patrolling.
He also feared that withdrawing Indian troops from PP16, where they had a permanent post for decades, could see Krugang Valley, which is used by the local people for grazing cattle, into a disputed territory between the two neighbours. He said the local people were unhappy over the loss of Indian territory to China.
“Very important Kugrang Valley got disputed. Miles of land become a buffer zone from the Indian side. But who cares about local feelings?” Stanzin, who is elected to LAHDC from Chinsul in Ladakh, posted on Twitter in response to a tweet by Subramanian Swamy, a former parliamentarian of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Swamy tweeted on Tuesday (13), “Chinese are laughing away on Indian media reports quoting Modi Govt that India and China have vacated to either side of LAC. Truth: China has withdrawn from Indian land and India has withdrawn from Indian land. Thus, China claims: “What mine in mine and what is your is also mine.”
The Herald report said that earlier disengagement of troops in Galwan Valley in June 2020; in the northern bank of Pangong Tso in February 2021 and in Gogra Post in August 2021 also saw India agreeing with China for creating "buffer zones" and moratorium on patrolling.
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