Is Ladakh convinced of Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s assertion that the country has not conceded anything in the sustained talks with China and “won’t allow even an inch of territory to be taken by anyone”? Whether fear, suspicion or hope is to follow following the statement in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday last, the Congress has questioned the agreement between New Delhi and Beijing on disengagement at Pangong Tso in Ladakh.

It accuses Modi government of “brazenly compromising” national security and territorial integrity, which doesn’t help matters in tense Leh, since the stand-off. In Pangong Tso Lake Area, the country was occupying Finger 4 and patrolling up to Finger 8 on the north bank, but notes with suspicion Singh’s statement saying our troops will withdraw now to Finger 3. It asks doesn’t this ‘tantamount to redrawing the LAC’ to our disadvantage and creating a buffer zone between Finger 3 and Finger 8…that is on our side of the LAC?” Further, it alleged that ‘our armed forces will be withdrawing from these vantage points in Kailash Ranges on the Southern Bank’.

For the citizens, it may all be too technical, as their concern is whether this means that jets circling or convoys moving will eventually stop. Will the movement of civilians beyond Leh be allowed now and will communication blackout in border areas be lifted?