{"id":28468,"date":"2020-06-25T07:11:32","date_gmt":"2020-06-25T01:41:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kashmir.today\/?p=28468"},"modified":"2020-06-25T07:11:32","modified_gmt":"2020-06-25T01:41:32","slug":"new-satellite-images-show-chinese-structures-back-at-galwan-clash-site","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/?p=28468","title":{"rendered":"New satellite images show Chinese structures back at Galwan clash site"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Senior sources in the Army confirmed that \u201cthe tent which was removed on June 15 has been reported back by our ground troops at PP-14 (Patrolling Point 14)\u201d. Reached for comment, the Army did not confirm or deny the existence of Chinese structures visible in the satellite images.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

\"India
A close-up view of road construction near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) border in the eastern Ladakh sector of Galwan Valley June 22. (Photo: Maxar Technologies via Reuters)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As India and China hold diplomatic and military talks to disengage troops along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, new satellite images show that the Chinese have built a defensive position at the Galwan Valley site of the June 15 clashes in which 20 Indian Army personnel were killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Senior sources in the Army confirmed that \u201cthe tent which was removed on June 15 has been reported back by our ground troops at PP-14 (Patrolling Point 14)\u201d. Reached for comment, the Army did not confirm or deny the existence of Chinese structures visible in the satellite images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The images from Maxar, a space technology company, are from June 22 and show that the Chinese have built a defensive position \u201castride\u201d the LAC near PP-14. The position has been built between June 16 and June 22 because Planet Labs satellite images of the location on June 16, a day after the clashes, do not show any such infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

On June 20, the Prime Minister\u2019s Office, in a statement, had said that \u201cas regards transgression of LAC, it was clearly stated that the violence in Galwan on 15 June arose because Chinese side was seeking to erect structures just across the LAC and refused to desist from such actions\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

After analysing the new satellite images, Lt General (retd) AL Chavan, who also served as Division Commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, responsible for eastern Ladakh, told\u00a0The Indian Express<\/em>\u00a0\u201cit appears to be a proper defensive position which has been developed by the Chinese\u201d. He said it appears that \u201cthe hillside, which is to the southern side, has also got some defensive positions\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cBetween June 15 and June 22, it is clear that the Chinese have developed that position,\u201d he said.
Chavan said \u201cabout 20-30 soldiers can occupy the position\u201d which appears to be an equilateral triangle \u201cwith approximately 65 metres frontage\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"GalwanArmy jawans pay gun salute to Rajesh Orang during his last rites at his ancestral village Belgoria in Birbhum district of West Bengal, Friday. (PTI)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said he was not sure if the position was built on the Indian or the Chinese side of LAC \u201cbecause without an accurate survey and enlarged maps, ascertaining the exact alignment of the LAC as claimed by the two sides is not possible\u201d. But \u201cdefinitely one thing is clear that it appears to be astride the LAC,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

\"IndiaLt General (retd) AL Chavan, who also served as Division Commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, responsible for eastern Ladakh, told The Indian Express \u201cit appears to be a proper defensive position which has been developed by the Chinese\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf it is on our side of the LAC, it changes the status quo, because defences have been developed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

But even if it is not, Chavan said, \u201cas per the agreements, which we have in force since 1996, they are not supposed to be developing these defences where there is a difference in perception. Such a construction clearly violates the agreements\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said PP-14 should be around the junction of the Galwan Nala and the Nala coming from the north and that \u201call the patrolling points have been so developed that our perception of the LAC lies ahead of that\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

A former Army Commander, who has also served in the region, said the structures appear to be \u201cstone walls with sheets on top for protection against the weather,\u201d which can be used \u201cjust to house troops\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

In the meetings between Corps Commanders of the Indian and Chinese armies on June 6 and June 22, it was decided that as part of stage-wise disengagement, a de facto \u2018buffer zone\u2019 will separate the troops \u2014 the clashes on June 15 had taken place over vacating this buffer zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With inputs from The Indian Express<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senior sources in the Army confirmed that \u201cthe tent which was removed on June 15 has been reported back by our ground troops at PP-14 (Patrolling Point 14)\u201d. Reached for comment, the Army did not confirm or deny the existence of Chinese structures visible in the satellite images. As India and China hold diplomatic and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25100,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-union-territory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}