China blinked first during standoff with India, here's how
Chinese and Indians troops are now in a process to disengage from disputed regions in the Galwan Valley and Gogra Hot springs. A buffer zone is being created to keep troops of both armies away from each other and decrease chances of confrontation. India's tough stance has ensured retreat of Chinese troops after many rounds of military and diplomatic-level talks between India and China. It has now come to light that it was the Chinese who blinked first during these negotiations.
India and China have a Working Mechanism for Consultation and Co-ordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC). After the bloody scuffle between Indian and Chinese troops on June 15, 2020, both sides initiated talks to de-escalate the situation.
As rounds of discussion went on, Indian troops were actively ensuring on ground that Chinese troops do not occupy Indian land.
Indian Express has now reported that it was China who asked for a meet between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
How China lost the game:
Whenever a military-diplomatic crisis like the one in Galwan Valley arises anywhere in the world, a dialogue is initiated between the concerned nations. During such talks, it is often seen that whichever country has a dominant position in the ongoing standoff or a conflict does not work enough to end the conflict immediately. The dominant country takes such a stance to buy time and occupy more land on the ground as rounds and rounds of diplomatic talks are held. Diplomatic talks are notorious for taking a long time. And in the meantime, the dominant country makes its position on ground stronger.
China's insistence on bypassing diplomatic talks on lower level and asking for a meet between Ajit Doval and Wang Yi may be an indication that it wanted the standoff to end soon.
India wanted a peaceful resolution to the standoff as well. But the sudden change in Chinese stand, from being an aggressor to being the side that wanted this conflict to end as soon as possible is interesting.
This indicates at the possibility that China was probably the one to blink first. It is possible that China did a rethink on its aggressive plans after Indian Army ensured through its resolve and actions that Indian land will not go in Chinese hands.
This in turn, may have compelled the mandarins in Beijing to press for a quick resolution before China lost face globally, more than it already had. Though there is no way to prove this on paper since diplomats take care for such a thing to not happen. The resolution of Ladakh standoff indeed underlines India's successful moves on all fronts.
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