Ahead of the next round of military talks scheduled to start this week, troops of India and China have disengaged on the ground at multiple locations in Eastern Ladakh. The talks between the two armies are going to be held this week at multiple locations including Patroling point 14 (Galwan area), Patrolling point 15, and Hot Springs area, top government sources said.
Because of the talks to be held in the next few days and the Lt Gen-level talks held on June 6, the Chinese Army has pulled back its troops from the Galwan valley, PP-15 and Hot Springs in Eastern Ladakh area by 2 to 2.5 km, they said.
The sources said to reciprocate the Chinese disengagement, the Indian side also brought back some of its troops and vehicles from these areas. Sources said the talks are being held on these points at the battalion commander level and they have had hotline talks with their counterparts.
The initial talks are being held in these areas, the Chinese activities had also started in Eastern Ladakh from this location only, they said. Indian military teams are already in Chushul to engage the Chinese in talks and are coordinating with the senior officials in this regard.
Military, diplomatic engagements to continue
Signalling that it was prepared for the long haul in its dealings with Beijing over the faceoff along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, New Delhi last week said “the two sides will continue the military and diplomatic engagements to resolve the situation and to ensure peace and tranquility in the border areas”. In first remarks after the marathon meeting on Saturday between Indian and Chinese army commanders at the Chushul-Moldo border point, the Ministry of External Affairs, in a statement, said it “took place in a cordial and positive atmosphere”.
The statement underlined the “agreement between the leaders” of the two countries - announced after the informal summits between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan and Mahabalipuram - that “peace and tranquility in the India-China border regions is essential for the overall development of bilateral relations”.
“Both sides also noted that this year marked the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and agreed that an early resolution would contribute to the further development of the relationship,” the MEA said.
Sources said the discussions between the two sides was “frank”, and that South Block had got a sense of Beijing’s “sensitivities” following the talks and a video conference of diplomats. “This will be a long haul and small steps need to be taken to resolve the situation,” sources said, indicating that talks will continue at the Brigadier-level and the field level regularly and at the level of Joint Secretaries.
At the meeting on Saturday, where the team leaders were Lt General Harinder Singh, XIV Corps Commander, and Major General Liu Lin, Commander of South Xinjiang Military District, the Indian side conveyed to the Chinese its central point about restoration of status quo ante in certain areas of eastern Ladakh along the LAC. An official said this was done by sharing comprehensive details of Chinese deployments as of April – and to which locations India wants the Chinese to go back - before the current round of tensions began.
The Indian delegation also gave details of patrolling limits in various areas, followed hitherto but now being denied by the Chinese, and sought their restoration.
A key issue in these talks was about the Pangong Tso area, where the Chinese have moved westward by 8 km, pitching tents and deploying soldiers according to their “perception” of the LAC. Besides altering the status quo, this has also meant that Indian patrols can no longer go up to the LAC, as marked in Army maps. The Indian side, sources said, raised the issue of the high number of Chinese troops and the aggression shown.
While there was acknowledgment that aggressive behaviour must be dialled down, sources said the Indian side conveyed that patrolling must not be stopped. The Chinese side said they will look into it, but they also pointed to the building of Indian infrastructure. The Chinese build-up in the Galwan region is also at the heart of the standoff. Chinese commanders and officials have insisted that there is “nothing unusual” about the deployment on their side of the LAC. This refusal to acknowledge the problem is being seen as a sign of their “intransigence” in the Galwan area, sources said.
The build-up in the Galwan area is worrying because it threatens the 255-km Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldie (DSDBO) road and access to forward posts near the Karakoram Pass.
