Srinagar: In view of the major flare-up in Ladakh as fresh “provocative” military movements were made by the Chinese troops, the Srinagar-Leh highway has been closed for the civilian traffic movement with immediate effect and will remain open only for the “defence forces and vehicles”.
The video shot hours before, shows the civilian vehicles piled up on one side of the highway and only army trucks moving towards Ladakh.
Eyewitnesses told Free Press Kashmir that no civilian vehicle is being allowed to move on the thoroughfare as all the vehicles have stopped at Manigam and Sumbal-Sonawari areas.
“No vehicle is being allowed to move ahead of Sonmarg, in central Kashmir,” they said.
On Monday Indian army informed that Chinese troops “carried out provocative military movements to change the status quo” near Pangong Tso lake in Ladakh, on Saturday night and they were blocked by the Indian armed forces personnel manning the area, the government said.
A Brigade Commander level Flag Meeting is in progress at Chushul to resolve the issues, as per the Government of India situation update.
The major flare-up, according to the reports, took place on the south bank of the Pangong Tso, which is of huge significance as no clashes have been reported here earlier.
Leh highway was also closed after fresh “provocative” military movements by Chinese troops in Ladakh, on August 31, 2020.
The statement added that Indian Army is committed to maintaining peace and tranquillity through dialogue, but is also equally determined to protect its territorial integrity.
In Ladakh China has established high speed connectivity, including the setting up of 5G network near Demchok and fresh constructions at the Pangong Lake.
As New Delhi claims that both India and China will “continue to sincerely work towards complete disengagement” of armed forces personnel, talks aimed at resolving the military standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, has so far yielded no results.
The armies of India and China are locked in a tense standoff in eastern Ladakh, where China has reportedly occupied 60 sq. kilometres of territory claimed by India.
A Chinese diplomat reacting to the standoff in Ladakh has said that the move is linked to the Indian government’s unilateral decision to scrap Article 370 in August last year.
The move changed the laws that prohibited Indians from buying land in Kashmir, and made the constitution of Jammu and Kashmir defunct, triggering fears of demographic change in the Muslim majority region of Kashmir.
When India scrapped Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on August 5 last year, the Chinese foreign ministry had issued two statements criticising the development, including one that focused on the splitting of the state into union territories.
This statement, while urging India to be “cautious” on the border issue and to avoid “actions that further complicate the border issue”, said: “China has always opposed India’s inclusion of Chinese territory in India’s administrative jurisdiction in the western part of the Sino-Indian border.” This was a reference to the area in Ladakh that New Delhi claims but is controlled by Beijing.
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