New Delhi, October 9
After a gap of more than two months, senior military commanders of India and China will be meeting for another round of talks on October 10 to diffuse tensions and ‘pull back’ from the military posturing along the 832-km long Line of Actual Control (LAC) In Eastern Ladakh.
This is the first meeting at the level of Lt Generals since July 31 and it will be the 13th round of senior military-level talks since June 6 last year between the two sides.
The existing impasse is over— PP 15, also referred to as Hot Springs — besides the Depsang Bulge, a 972-sq km plateau. Both are in Eastern Ladakh that shares an 832-km undefined LAC on the ground with both sides making claims and counterclaims.
The talks are slated to commence at 10:30 am at the Moldo Garrison of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), China. Moldo, located at the western edge of the Spanngur Tso (lake), faces the Indian garrison at Chushul in Eastern Ladakh.
A partial success has been achieved at the last meeting , with India and China pulling back troops from the Patrolling Point (PP) 17-A, also referred to as Gogra.
The disengagement from Gogra was undertaken as per the agreement arrived at the 12th round of India-China Corps Commander-level talks.
“All temporary structures and other allied infrastructure created in the area (along the LAC) by both sides have been dismantled and mutually verified,” said the MoD. The landform in the area has been restored by both sides to the pre-standoff period, a statement of the Ministry of Defence had said after dis-engagement at Gogra
Currently, the troops are not face to face, but are within striking range. There has been no faceoff since February.
India wants that troops in close proximity should ‘disengage’ first, the next steps of de-escalation and de-induction of troops can happen in a graded fashion.
A military stand-off between the two sides started in April 2020 and since February 2021, there has been graded improvement along the LAC.
