China is laying optical fibre cables to 'bolster' communications in Ladakh: Report

As tensions between India and China heat up, two Indian officials said that Chinese troops were laying network of optical fibre cables in the south of Pangong Lake in Ladakh to bolster communications, reported Reuters.

A senior government official said that cables that could possibly forward troops with secure lines of communication to bases have been found to the south of Pangong lake in Ladakh.

Another official said that there has been no withdrawal on either side even as the Foreign Ministers of the two nations met last week. The situation still remains tense, he said.

"Our biggest worry is that they have laid optical fibre cables for high-speed communications," the official said referring to the lake's southern bank, where Indian and Chinese troops are only a few hundred metres apart at some points, Reuters quoted the official.

"They have been laying optical fibre cables on the southern bank at breakneck speed," he said.

Meanwhile, the overall situation at friction points in eastern Ladakh remains unchanged and continues to be tense, four days after foreign ministers of India and China agreed on a five-point plan to resolve the prolonged border standoff, government sources said on Monday.

The sources also said both the Indian and Chinese troops are firmly holding onto their respective positions at the Line of Actual Control(LAC).

They said while the situation in the region continues to be tense no fresh movement of Chinese troops was witnessed.

The Indian Army will not lower its guard and will maintain the current state of very high-level of combat readiness in eastern Ladakh till there are visible changes in the ground situation, the sources added.

The sources said the date for the much-anticipated Corps commander-level talks between the two armies is yet to be firmed up but it is likely to take place in the next few days.

The military talks are expected to focus on implementation of certain provisions of the five-point consensus to ease tensions.

India and China reached an agreement to resolve their border row at a meeting between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Moscow last Thursday on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meet.

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