Arunachal Pradesh: Indian Army continues to hold upper hand at LAC after Tawang clash with PLA

New Delhi: Days after the Tawang clash in which Indian Army soldiers thrashed their counterparts belonging to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China, an Australia-based think tank has released satellite images, showing the exact situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh.

According to these satellite images released by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, the Indian Army continues to stand firm at its original positions and is still holding the ridge line at the conflict spot. It was this ridge line that China intended to capture when hundreds of PLA soldiers tried to breach the LAC, leading to the Tawang clash.

What happened in Tawang?

Soldiers from the Indian Army and China’s PLA clashed at the Yangtse Plateau along the LAC in the strategically important Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh.

The Tawang clash took place on a crucial ridgeline that has visibility over key Indian supply lines. It was the most serious skirmish between the Indian Army and the PLA since Galwan in 2020. Currently this ridgeline is occupied by the Indian Army which gives it considerable advantage of the PLA in the area.

Why did Tawang clash take place?

The Yangtse plateau is a strategically crucial region within the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh. With its highest mountain peak standing at over 5,700m above sea level, the Yangtse plateau enables visibility of much of the region.

Crucially for India, the Indian Army’s control of the ridgeline along the LAC allows it to prevent the PLA from accessing the roads that lead to the Sela Pass – a critical mountain pass through which the only access in and out of Tawang.

China builds infrastructure to offset PLA weakness

According to a report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, China has made military preparations on a large
scale from Doklam near its disputed border with Bhutan to the LAC at Arunachal Pradesh.

Sattelite images accessed by the institute show massive infrastructure build-up by China in the territory
controlled by the PLA in the Yangtse plateau over the last year.

While India maintains control of the commanding heights on the Yangtse plateau, China has tried to compensate for this disadvantage by building new military and transport infrastructure that allows the PLA to get troops quickly into the area.

China has upgraded several key access roads and constructed an all-weather road that leads to within 150-metre of Indian Army pots on the ridgeline along the LAC where the Tawang clash had taken place. The Chinese had used this road to approach Indian Army positions on December 9. Currently, there is a small PLA camp at the end of this road that was used a launch pad by the PLA for their attack on Indian positions during the Tawang clash.

Worryingly for India, these developments may give the PLA a considerable boost in case a full-scale conflict breaks out in the future. The recent developments in the Yangtse plateau present the possibility of a Chinese attempt at cutting off Indian supply lines in times of war. More recent concerns include the possibility of another attempt at incursion in the crucial Tawang sector.

While the Indian Army and the PLA have disengaged to a large extent in Ladakh, no such moves have taken place along the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh. On the contrary, there is a massive build-up by China which India has counter-acted with a military and infrastructure build-up of its own, although in a more limited manner.

Indian preparations at LAC in Arunachal Pradesh

India is building a tunnel under the Sela Pass which is scheduled to be ready by the year 2023. The Nechipu tunnel is being developed near the Nechipu pass. Once these tunnels are completed, both military and civilian vehicular movement will be a lot smoother and travel from Tezpur in Assam to the LAC in Tawang sector will become easier and faster.

India is also building the Arunachal Frontier Highway (AFH), which is officially known as the National Highway NH-913. This road will connect the Bomdila Airstrip in western Arunachal Pradesh to Vijaynagar Airstrip in the eastern part of the state.

Also known as the McMahon Highway, this road will run along the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh, which is also known as the McMahon Line. With a length of around 1,800 km, this highway will allow the Indian Army to transport troops and heavy weaponry directly from Tawang to eastern Arunachal Pradesh instead of a detour through Tezpur in Assam, as is being done currently.

This road is a reply to China’s strategic highway linking Pad township in Nyingchi city with Baibung in Medog County that lies north of Arunachal Pradesh and was completed last year.

Six corridors will connect this highway with two other parallel highways in the state — Trans-Arunachal Highway and the Arunachal East-West Corridor.

However, at present, several roads near the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh are not in good shape and need an urgent upgrade.

Will China try another LAC breach in Tawang?

China may be preparing for another attempt at grabbing Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh. If satellite images are anything to go by, there is ample evidence that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is gearing up for another tussle with the Indian Army in the Tawang sector despite the thrashing it had received during its last LAC transgression a few days ago.

Although the thrashing it had received at the hands of the Indian Army during the Tawang clash may force the PLA to lie low for a while, China seems to be in no mood to give up on its long-time policy of ‘salami slicing’.

The massive infrastructure build-up and subsequent extensive deployment by the PLA indicate that China may attempt another misadventure across the LAC in the near future.

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