After three years of unsuccessful military and diplomatic negotiations, China has laid down its conditions to India for the withdrawal of troops from eastern Ladakh’s Depsang, where the Indian Army has been engaged in a tense stand-off with China’s People’s Liberation Army since 2020. Chinese troops had entered Indian territory and occupied a significant amount of land, leading to the current situation.
An official from the intelligence wing of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police has reported that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is demanding a buffer zone of 15 to 20 kilometres within the Depsang Plains, an area claimed by India and this demand was made after China rejected India’s offer to create a buffer zone of 3 to 4 kilometres within Indian territory if China agrees to withdraw its troops from the region.
The ITBP official said the PLA made the latest demand during the 18th round of corps commander-level talks, which took place in April, and repeated the same during subsequent lower-level military-to-military talks.