Ladakh stand-off: India, China hold 13th round of talks

India is likely to seek disengagement as soon as possible in the remaining friction points

The senior military commanders of India and China on Sunday had the 13^th round of negotiations to resolve the military stand-off in eastern Ladakh, focussing particularly on terms for a mutual withdrawal of troops from the Patrol Point 15 on the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Lt. Gen. P G K Menon, the commander of the XIV Corps of the Indian Army, met Maj Gen Liu Lin, his counterpart in the South Xinjiang Military District of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The meeting took place on the communist country’s side at the Chushul-Moldo point on the LAC on Sunday. It started at 10:30 a.m. and continued till 7:00 p.m.

Also Read | Ahead of talks, Army Chief says India will not pull back troops as long as China does not withdraw build-up along LAC

A source in New Delhi said that the two sides discussed ways to build on the disengagement on the northern and southern banks of Pangong Tso (lake) in February as well as the Gogra Post in August and to mutually withdraw front-line troops from Patrol Point 15 a.k.a. Hot Springs.

The Patrol Point 15 is one of the LAC points, where the face-off is still continuing.

The two military commanders are expected to brief the outcome of the talks to their superiors in the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA in New Delhi and Beijing respectively.

Also Read | Made some progress; but larger problem remains: Jaishankar on eastern Ladakh row

After India and China pulled out troops from both the banks of Pangong Tso earlier this year, the disengagement in Gogra Post and Hot Springs were perceived to be the “low hanging fruits” for the negotiations to resolve the stand-off along the LAC. But the 11th round of talks between the military commanders of the two sides on April 9 last ended in a stalemate, which was broken only after the senior diplomats of the two sides had a video conference on June 25 and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Dushanbe on July 14.

The senior military commanders of India and China finally had the 12th round of talks at the Chushul-Moldo meeting point on the LAC on July 31. The two sides discussed a possible agreement on disengagement on Gogra and Hot Springs.

Also Read | India matching Chinese troop build-up on disputed border: Army chief Naravane

But the Chinese PLA backtracked from a deal with the Indian Army on withdrawal of troops from Hot Springs and only agreed on disengagement from Gogra Post. The top brass of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in New Delhi too finally gave its nod for resolving the face-off at Gogra Post only.

New Delhi and Beijing simultaneously announced disengagement of troops from Gogra Post on August 6 – about a week after the 12^th round of talks between the military commanders.

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