NEW DELHI: The 18th round of talks between Corps Commanders of India and China are on to defuse tension along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh. The discussion have taken place even as tension is prevailing due to heavy deployment of troops on both sides of LAC.
Sources on Sunday confirmed that the talks are being held at the Chushul-Moldo meeting point in Eastern Ladakh. “They (talks) are continuing,” a source said. Meanwhile, Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu is scheduled to be in India for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ meetings next week. This will be the first visit of Li Shangfu as he was appointed as China’s new Defence Minister in March.
Lt Gen Rashim Bali, the Leh-based Fire and Fury Corps Commander, is leading the Indian side in the discussions. The defence of Eastern Ladakh is looked after by the Fire and Fury Corps. The Chinese side is led by the South Xinjiang Military District Commander. The situation along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh has been tense since May 2020 as the troops of the Chinese Peoples’ Liberation Army clashed with the Indian Army soldiers at Finger 4 on the Northern Bank of the Pangong Lake.
Post the clashes, China has deployed its troops in the areas of North Bank and South Bank of Pangong Tso, Gogra, Hot Spring and Depsang, leading to a standoff between the two sides. This was in addition to the standoff existing at Depsang and Demchok. This meeting is taking place after a gap of four months. The Corps Commander-level meeting was last held in December 2022.
India has been asking for status-quo ante to the April 2020 position on ground in Eastern Ladakh and has asked China to move its troops back from the Depsang Plains and the Demchok area. The 17 rounds of previous Corps Commanders talks have led to disengagement at Galwan (Patrolling Point 14), North and South banks of Pangong Tso, Gogra (PP 17A) and HotSprings (PP 15). In addition, there have been multiple diplomatic parlays between the two countries. The troops have moved back from the earlier eye-to-eye deployment from the standoff points to new locations but they remain in the area.