With Chinese incursions becoming more aggressive,the Army is pushing for a rethink on patrolling restrictions in certain sensitive areas of the Line of Actual Control. The restrictions,imposed by the China Study Group many years ago,prevents Indian military troops from going up as close as possible to Indias claim line in certain areas where Chinese incursions have increased of late. Its learnt that the CSG,comprising secretaries from Defence,Foreign and Home ministries besides the two intelligence heads,had in the past placed restrictions on the Army in certain areas of the LAC so as to avoid any confrontation or clashes with Chinese troops. These,sources said,roughly relate to 10-odd areas in the Western Sector of the LAC in Ladakh,almost the entire Central Sector which includes Sikkim and about four areas in the Eastern Sector where perceptions vary and are hence,sensitive. In these areas,the Army is not allowed to go right up to the front while China has imposed no such restrictions on its Army. About three months back,the CSG is said to have relaxed a few restrictions,given the heightened Chinese activity in Sikkim but the military is clearly not satisfied and wants complete lifting of restrictions. In many of these sensitive areas,the Indo-Tibetan Border police is allowed to carry out an occasional patrol but with strict instructions not to provoke. In fact,sources said,in some areas of Sikkim,the ITBP personnel are asked to go without weapons to prevent provocation. There is,however,a counterview which has triggered a debate at higher government levels. With the Chinese having amassed more troops and improved infrastructure to move their forces quicker,there is a fear that an Indian military patrol could find itself easily outnumbered in case of a tricky situation and any unexpected clash could be humiliating. So,according to this view in the CSG,India should first build the infrastructure to facilitate quicker movement of forces and then think about lifting these restrictions. On the other hand,the militarys contention is that China seems to be specifically concentrating more on these areas and stepping up incursions. With improved infrastructure,Chinese incursions have become more frequent. And in line with the extreme nationalistic character that the PLA has acquired,the nature of these incursions are more aggressive now. In this light,the Army is keen to follow a more hands-on approach and start handling patrols on its own and exercise complete operational command over the ITBP. While it is a stated policy that the Army will have such control on paramilitary forces like the BSF and ITB on disputed borders namely the LoC and LAC,sources said,the Army-ITBP coordination is leaves a lot to be desired when compared to the Army-BSF coordination on the Pakistan side. At a broader level,the government policy for the moment is not to be provocative and complete lifting off patrolling restrictions may give this signal and increase chances of military-to-military contact. Yet,this is not a bilateral arrangement and Chinas Border Guard Regiment,which is involved in these incursions,is very much part of the Chinese Army and so the case is being made for greater role of the Army on this side too.
