‘Time to place ITBP under Army’s control and ensure better civil-military relations’‘Time to place ITBP under Army’s control and ensure better civil-military relations’
There is finally some good news in Eastern Ladakh with the mutual disengagement of Indian and Chinese soldiers from the areas of Galwan and Hot Springs. The contentious areas of Pangong Tso and Depsang are yet to be addressed, but with the stalemate along the border having been broken, the differences between the two sides can be narrowed. Irrespective of how the current crisis plays out, it carries one major lesson. Our strategic differences with China will come into sharper focus as China grows more powerful and assertive, and this competition could increasingly play out along the unsettled Line of Actual Control (LAC). The brutality of the clash at Galwan on June 15 has demolished the existing protocols and agreements that guided the conduct of soldiers, and we could see a hotter LAC in the coming years. Indo Tibetan Border Police Jawans at a parade in Chandigarh Dealing with China in the future will require a comprehensive strategy that combines our diplomatic, economic, and milita...