Winter coming, Army turns to tech, more surveillance for troop redeployment at LAC

With no substantive forward movement in the 20th round of military talks between India and China last week, the Army is now preparing for the fourth consecutive winter in eastern Ladakh since the start of the standoff in May 2020.

Sources said the redeployment plans as part of the Army’s winter posture will entail troops deployed on smaller satellite posts closing in to company locations and a limited reduction in formations which have been undergoing training.

A source in the government said plans to reassess the overall number of troops deployed are being carried out in the backdrop of increased deployment of latest platforms and equipment and overall improvement in logistics capability.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at the Army Commanders’ Conference in New Delhi on Wednesday. (ANI)

“With enhancement of the military’s airlift capability and construction of additional roads, the ability to move reserves from one area to multiple other areas has become possible. So, the overall troops required in the region reduces as compared to earlier when each area required a separate reserve,” the source said.

As against the previous winters, there has been an increase in the deployment of surveillance equipment – cameras to drones to satellites – providing a comprehensive picture to Indian troops, and reducing the necessity for deployment of additional troops.

Sources said adequate stocking and improvement of habitat, catering to thousands of troops deployed there, have been also carried out and will resume post the winter months. “Improvement and additional construction of habitat for troops will continue through winters wherever feasible,” a source said.

Asked about the possibility of redeploying additional troops in the summers, the source said the summers will see a series of exercises by various reserve formations including the strike corps and a decision to hold back troops will be taken depending on how the talks with the Chinese progress.

Medical authorities and the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), the source said, are working on a system to reduce the existing acclimatisation period which is conducted in three stages of six days for stage 1, and four days each for stages 2 and 3, and studies on this are in advanced stages.

“The reduced acclimatisation schedule will greatly speed up the induction of fresh troops if required,” the source said.

Another round of military talks is expected to take place during the winter months. Local commanders of the two sides, meanwhile, will continue interacting regularly to avoid any incident.

In the 19th round of Corps Commander-level talks between both sides, disengagement of the troops deployed by both sides along the LAC and overall de-escalation of troops in the Ladakh region was part of the agenda, as was adherence to existing protocols and sharing of patrol information to prevent clashes on ground. Phase-wise plans for limited deinduction of troops from along the LAC were also readied, but were not implemented.

In September last year, both sides pulled back troops to disengage from Patrolling Point-15 in the Gogra-Hot Springs area of eastern Ladakh, marking a step forward in the military standoff.

Friction points such as Galwan Valley, north and south banks of Pangong Tso and the Gogra-Hot Springs area have seen some resolution in the last three years with the creation of buffer zones. There is, however, yet to be any disengagement at the legacy friction points such as Depsang Plains and Demchok. At present, around 50,000-60,000 troops remain deployed on either side of the India-China boundary.