The Sino-Indian Border After Galwan
The DiplomatThe lightly armed Indian patrol, about a hundred soldiers strong and led by a senior field commander, a colonel, moved cautiously through the Galwan River Valley. The current disruption on the Sino-Indian border began in April 2020 when Indian intelligence operatives and Indo-Tibet Border Police reported heavy Chinese troop build-ups at several places across the LAC. The PLA took advantage of the Indian Army’s preoccupation with the pandemic and the Indian side was taken by surprise in late April, when large numbers of Chinese troops crossed the LAC into the Galwan and Pangong Tso areas. Beyond Galwan While the bloody clash in Galwan River Valley made that area the most famous flashpoint in this round of tensions, China’s April 2020 incursion took place at several different points: Chumar and Demchok in the “southern sector” of Ladakh; Chushul and Pangong Tso lake in the “central sector” and Galwan and Depsang in the “northern sector.” As noted above, India’s initial, flawed assessment downplayed the severity of the situation. A third PLA intrusion happened on May 17-18 at Pangong Tso lake, where Chinese troops and heavy vehicles crossed the LAC and seized traditionally unoccupied territory along the lake’s northern bank.