India says the army 'thwarted' China's 'proactive military movement' to change status quo along Ladakh border

• Tensions along the border between India and China continue to worsen that India ‘thwarts’ a fresh Chinese incursion.
• The Ministry of Defence claims that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) tried to change the status quo with ‘proactive military movements’ along the banks of Pangong Tso Lake.
• "PLA troops violated the previous consensus arrived at during military and diplomatic engagements during the ongoing standoff in Eastern Ladakh," said Colonel Aman Anand in a statement.

Amid talks of disengagement and disarmament, the Chinese took to the offensive, according to India’s Ministry of Defence. On the night between August 29 and 30, the Indian Army claims that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) tried to change the status quo, yet again — an attempt that was ‘thwarted’ by the armed forces.


“PLA troops violated the previous consensus arrived at during military and diplomatic engagements during the ongoing standoff in Eastern Ladakh,” said Colonel Aman Anand in a statement.


There was ‘proactive military movement’ by the Chinese side along the banks of the Pangong Tso Lake where the border between India and China is disputed. “Indian troops preempted this PLA activity on the Southern Bank of Pangong Tso Lake, undertook measures to strengthen our positions,” said Anand.

The development comes after the Chinese were irked by one of the Indian Navy’s frontline warship being deployed in the South China Sea — an issue that was brought up during the discussions between India and China, sources told ANI.


The tit for tat game
India’s deployment of its warship in the South China Sea came after the violent Galwan Valley clash between the two countries left 20 Indian soldiers dead and an undisclosed number of fatalities on the Chinese side.

India also deployed vessels along the Malacca Straits near the Andaman and Nicobar islands — a busy route also used by Chinese vessels for trade. China’s former president Hu Hintao referred to the situation as the ‘Malacca dilemma’ because the dragon needs to access it but the control lies with India.

“We have to be prepared for everything from trench warfare to space warfare,” Brigadier Anil Gupta told Business Insider in an earlier interview explaining India’s ‘military options’.

Is it Finger 2 or Finger 8 or somewhere in between?
‘Fingers’ are mountainous ridges that jut out onto Pangong Tso Lake and are used as location markers. India claims that the India-China border lies at Finger 8. For China, Finger 2 marks the boundary. The area in between is where the confrontations take place.



For instance, the first alternation between India and China that took place on May 5 was near Finger 5. While face-offs between the two sides were common, this was the first time that a physical confrontation occurred making the August 29’s incident even more rare.

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