Bothering Heights

In Ladakh, India looks at an operational window between August and October in case disengagement plans with China fail

- Pradip R. Sagar/Leh

The Chinese should be thrown out from the territory which does not belong to them at all. Our military should give them a strong response,” said Ghulam Nabi Galwan, the grandson of Ghulam Rassul Galwan, who discovered the Galwan valley in 1899. The valley, located nearly 200km from Leh, saw a fierce clash between Indian and Chinese forces on June 15, in which 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives. The region has become the epicentre of the ongoing Sino-Indian clashes in the western sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh.

With the standoff continuing for more than two months, Ladakhis are hoping for a ‘tough’ response from the Indian military, which will help wipe out bitter memories of 1962. In Ladakh, all roads to forward areas are sealed. No movement is permitted beyond the Army’s 3 Infantry Division headquarters in Karu, nearly 30km from Leh. The division is in charge of eastern Ladakh, including the flashpoints with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Telephone lines beyond Leh have been cut for security reasons, causing panic among relatives of those who live close to the LAC. All inner line permits, too, stand cancelled.

For Ladakhis, the border tensions have come at a time when the region is struggling with its fight against Covid-19. According to the Union territory’s health department, there are now 115 active cases in Leh and 65 cases in Kargil district, but all patients are stable. No new cases have been reported in the past couple of days.