Post Galwan Clash In 2020, Indian Army Steps Up Patrolling Near LAC

New Delhi, Mar 4: Following the clash with the Chinese troops in June 2020, Indian Army formations deployed near the Galwan Valley, along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, have undertaken a range of activities such as surveying border areas to stop a “possible” Chinese aggression, an officer of the Indian Army said. A video showing Indian army soldiers posted near the Galwan valley, patrolling forward areas along the LAC on horses and ponies. The army also released pictures of the jawans also playing cricket in extreme cold at high-altitude locations in Galwan. In recent months, the jawans also undertook a half marathon over the frozen Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh, the officer said. On February 26, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said relations with China will not be normal until concerns arising out of the face-off that took place at the beginning of the Covid lockdown is resolved. The Indian and Chinese troops clashed at Galwan in 2020, the same year the pandemic started. In September 2022, the Indian troops and their counterparts in the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) completed the disengagement process in the Gogra Heights-Hot Springs area near Patrolling Point-15 in the eastern Ladakh sector, government sources had said. Since May 2020, when the Chinese troops tried to aggressively change the status quo on LAC in eastern Ladakh, both sides have been deployed in forward positions near Patrolling Point 15, which emerged as a friction point in the wake of the Galwan clash. Delhi and Beijing reached an agreement in February 2021 to disengage from the 135-km Pangong Lake, creating buffer zones until all outstanding border issues are resolved, Sputnik, a Russian-based media agency reported earlier. Over 50,000 Indian soldiers had been stationed since 2020 at forward posts along the LAC, with advanced weapons to prevent any attempts to change the status quo unilaterally on the LAC.