You are forgetting that China also has no access to those areas anymore as well. So China lost access to those areas.
And in some areas within the 20%, India has increased its presence. For example prior to 2020, India had no permanent camps in Galwan. Now you can see for yourself how many India has there, along with new bridges and roads. As you said, that is within the 20%.
Don't know why you are changing the subject by bringing up Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
And when did I say India had no patrols in Gogra at all? I simply said India never patrolled beyond pp17A, which is around the point I showed you earlier.
You are forgetting the goals here. China wants to demarcate which India refuses because it claims Aksai Chin. China's demarcation does not give Aksai Chin to India so there is no agreement. The next best thing for China is to make a buffer so India does not patrol or access the land adjacent to Aksai Chin.
Let's say for sake of this point getting across, both sides patrolled the 20% equally frequently in equal presence levels prior to standoff*.
Now China and India in a buffer situation, both lose access. Who loses more? Who is more unwilling? India loses main goal by the entire Switzerland sized Aksai Chin and has no access to remaining 20%. China loses main goal (of demarcating on its preferred terms of actual claims) by a slither of land not 26% the size of Askai Chin in total (assuming entire 20% becomes buffer).
China ensures the threat of India acting on Aksai Chin is gone in return of the cost of losing access to 20%. Net result China loses 20% access of legacy dispute and wins 80% of legacy dispute for good. Settled.
India net simply loses access to 20% and total loss of 80% legacy dispute. Total loss of 100%.
This is why india refuses buffer and sent around 200k troops to this region partly in an effort to show Modi is doing something and partly to gain negotiation bargaining power. China ain't afraid of your 200k men. China can turn your 200k men to dust within a day if it so wishes. This is why it stood its ground and did not cede the 20% to de facto Indian control. India has presence in this 20% before and has less now since Pangong and Gogra have both become buffers. If China were worried about India going to war here, it would simply say India you can have the 20%. Instead, it occupied Pangong lake fingers and parts of Galwan and Demchok moving much further west than PLA ever controlled during the last few decades. It then forced buffer deal out of India to achieve secondary objective since primary of demarcation cannot possibly be palatable to India.
China does not want war. It cannot push India into one by cornering Modi too much. It
needs to offer some outs. These outs are in the form of okay you don't want to demarcate today but you also cannot have the 20% and in fact not even presence or access for a lot of it now.
This is the nuance in the "well both sides moved back"... yes but the context and peripherals make the situation and upper hand as clear as a cloudless day.
