New details:
this operation to reach the unoccupied heights took
almost a month of careful planning — from the drawing board to implementation on the field.
Plans for such a move, a source in the security establishment said,
had the political go-ahead from Delhi because there was realisation there that Beijing was not serious about completing disengagement of troops.
But by July 14, the fourth round of talks, it was clear that
China was not pulling back its troops fully from Gogra Post and Hot Spring areas, and the ridges of the Fingers area on the north bank of Pangong Tso.
When the August 2 meeting ended with China not even ready to accept it had violated Indian territory on Pangong Tso’s north bank, the
Indian establishment realised that military action to wrest some tactical advantage was the only option.
The final plan, the source said, had been ready for over a fortnight before the action. “Two weeks before it happened, the seriousness about putting weight on this particular action started gaining. Then the ground commanders came here to give presentations.”
Locations of tactical advantage were discussed. Strategies to achieve them were worked upon. Each and every move, to the last detail, was mapped. And just before the operations, reconnaissance was carried out.
“There were three forces at our disposal — the Special Frontier Force (SFF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and, of course, the Indian Army.
Units were specifically picked to take over particular heights with SFF commandos leading at many places,” the officer said.
Sources said the operation – it extended to the night of August 30-31 — helped
India take positions on heights surrounding Black Top and Helmet Top. “The Chinese continue to dominate Black Top and Helmet Top, but we have surrounded them on heights around it. Though perceptions of LAC differ,
we are still on our side of the LAC,” an intelligence officer said.
What has riled China, the officer said, is India’s positions around Rezang La and Rechin La. “The positions we have taken in the Chushul sector on heights such as Magar Hill and Gurung Hill has exposed China’s Moldo garrison and the Spanggur Gap, strategically very important to China,” the officer said.
there have been
two instances of firing in the area – for the first time in 45 years along the LAC. While
China reacted to an incident of firing on September 7, calling it a “grave provocation”, sources said the
first shot was fired on the night of August 30. On September 7 too, the firing happened in the same sector for the same reason
The Indian Army denied it had opened fire along the LAC, or that it had crossed the LAC.
By the crack of dawn, Indian forces had taken dominant positions on some key heights along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), snaking through the south bank of Pangong Tso to Rechin La near Rezang La.
indianexpress.com
Read between the lines especially the last 2 paras.