Rendeződik a helyzet Ladakhban: Kína beleegyezett hogy kivonja csapatait

2013. május 6./TNN/Tibet Sun/TibetPress

Jelenleg csak angolul olvasható. Magyarul később.

http://www.tibetsun.com/news/2013/05/06/ladakh-stand-off-ends-as-china-agrees-to-pull-out-troops

By Indrani Bagchi and Rajat Pandit 

After a tense face-off for a couple of weeks, Chinese troops have decided to withdraw from Indian territory in Depsang plains in northern Ladakh. This will pave the way for foreign minister Salman Khurshid’s visit to Beijing on May 9 and the Chinese premier’s India visit on May 20.

While the official line is that both armies have withdrawn to their previous positions, its unclear why the Indian army would have to move back since it is very much within Indian territory. In fact, in his statement to a parliament committee, the ministry of defence had clarified that Chinese troops had come 19km inside Indian territory.

Both sides held the fourth and fifth flag meetings between local commanders over the weekend, amid the faint possibility of a resolution to the continuing troop standoff in the Depsang Bulge area in the coming days, which would make it possible for the visit to go on. The first three flag meetings, on April 18, 23 and 30, at Spanggur Gap between the Daulat Beg Oldi and Chushul sectors had failed to break the deadlock.

It is unclear whether India made any concessions to the Chinese or whether the withdrawal was unconditional. The Indian government had been reluctant to take a strong line with the Chinese for what was a national security scare. It is only under intense public and political pressure that the UPA government finally took a hard line.

Did India make a deal?

The Chinese had been insisting that India dismantle its security and monitoring posts built in Chumar and other areas. India had resisted this because Chumar is considered to have strategic significance, particularly since Indian soldiers can monitor troop movements across the Line of Actual Control from there.

Before the news of the troops withdrawing was announced, some sources had said India might agree to remove some of the structures as “a face saver” to enable the Chinese troops to withdraw to their pre-April 15 positions. Analysts said if the Indian government had indeed agreed to make a deal with the Chinese, this kind of incursion would be repeated over and over again.

The Chinese intransigence had created a political problem with memories of the 1962 war and India’s humiliating defeat by China playing in everyone’s minds. Both the ruling Congress party and the opposition had asked for Khurshid’s visit to be cancelled after Chinese troops refused to withdraw despite three flag meetings with the Indian side.

The Chinese action caught India by surprise in mid-April. The Indian government tried hard to rationalize the incursion, with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh describing it as “localized problem” and Khurshid as mere “acne”. The Indian reaction was seen to be late, inadequate and appeared to be glossing over the importance of the Chinese action.

The government has been trying to preserve the forthcoming visit of the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang scheduled for May 20. But political pressure and growing public opinion has hardened the government’s stand in recent days, with government leaders saying the Chinese visit could be cancelled if their troops did not withdraw.