Chinese build-up faces natural roadblocks in Galwan Valley

The grand deployment of the Chinese troops in the Galwan river valley seems to have been cut-off into several parts due to an overflow into the river, satellite imagery reviewed by India Today TV shows. The high-resolution satellite imagery, captured by Planet Labs satellites on June 25, 10 days after the unfortunate brutal combat in the Valley, suggests that the newly-built Chinese roads have washed away. The imagery also shows the reclaimed area in the valley, which the Chinese troops created by artificially reducing the width of the river, has also been filled with water, effectively cutting off the rear flank from middle and forward positions. There are still no signs of a pullback by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the Galwan Valley yet even as the Indian and Chinese military commanders reached a “consensus to disengage” from all “friction areas”. The large PLA tents on the southern bank of the river are visibly cut off from the vehicles stationed at the northern bank as the bridge connecting the banks has been washed away. The images analysed by India Today TV suggests that the newly reclaimed land created by the PLA troops by reducing the width of the river in the valley has also been lost in some parts due to the overflowing water. NO CHINESE PULLBACK Even after arriving at a "mutual consensus to disengage", following the marathon 10-hour long meeting between senior commanders at Moldo, the Chinese side continues with its heavy build up in the Galwan Valley. The images show no reduction of troops and deployments in the valley. They show the intensive presence of camouflaged tents, vehicles, road JCB like machines, etc on the Chinese side. The area around Patrol Point 14 seems to have been cleaned in these images as compared to last images captured on June 12. The Chinese tarpaulins and adjacent tents continue to be seen in these images. The back-up Indian positions (not shown here) have also intensified on the Indian side with more intense deployment as compared to earlier seen images. India on Friday warned China against any attempts to alter the status quo along the LAC by force. India’s ambassador to China Vikram Misri said China’s recent claim of sovereignty over the Galwan Valley was completely “untenable”.