Resumption of Indian Patrolling Along LAC Reduces Salience of Buffer Zones

The disengagement agreement arrived at between India and China will restore patrolling by Indian troops in areas that have been designated as “buffer zones” by the two militaries along with Demchok and Depsang where frictions have preceded the current stand off that began in May, 2020.

Though there is no word yet on whether buffer zones in Galwan, Gogra-Hot Springs and the Pangong Tso areas will continue to exist or will be reviewed, renewal of patrolling is seen as a significant gain. Indian Army patrols were traversing larger areas as compared to their Chinese counterparts who covered shallower arcs before localised disengagement at these friction points saw both sides pulling back.

The disengagement announced by Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri on October 21 included an agreement on patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border areas. This has led to disengagement and a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020, Misri said. Restoration of patrolling reduces the relevance of buffer zones as disengagement will see Indian and Chinese troops stepping back along the LAC to their respective pre-May, 2020 positions.

Previous disengagement saw Chinese pull up extensive infrastructure in the finger 4-8 area of Pangong Tso. Indian troops used to patrol up to the finger 4 spur before the Chinese intrusion that was vacated in February, 2021 following India’s surprise occupation of Kailash heights to the south of the lake.

India’s insistence on including Demchok and Depsang in an overarching disengagement process has paid off as China weighed the pros and cons of keeping a large number of troops – numbering up to 100,000 – locked in the Himalayan region at a time when its engagements in the Indo-Pacific are rising. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) forces along the LAC include rocket and mechanised elements and from a Chinese perspective there was nothing much to gain from prolonging the standoff.

There have been reports that Taiwan and disputes with other maritime neighbours are occupying greater attention of the Chinese leadership. The contestation in the Indo-Pacific has sharpened with America bolstering ties with old allies in the region. India has also stepped-up cooperation, including military sales, with nations like Philippines and Vietnam in south-east Asia.

There is a view that buffer zones cover more areas that India sees as its territory as compared to China. However, in agreeing to the zones, China also moved back from points it has argued lie on its side of the LAC. The creation of buffer zones was an interim measure, one that has been tried and tested in conflict areas by United Nations peace keeping forces. The idea is to move troops away from an eyeball-to-eyeball situation.

More recently, in the Indian context, such zones have been created to keep warring communities in Manipur apart with the Assam Rifles enforcing the separation. Though patrolling is seen as act to mark out territory, the protocols that are being worked out will look to prevent Indian and Chinese troops running into one another. There are previous agreements that set out how troops can avoid escalation in such situations, but have been violated by China once it felt the need to check India’s quest for parity along the LAC.

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Rajeev Deshpande

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