9 hours of talks between India-China commanders
Discussion on ending tension in Ladakh in 12th round of military talks
Commander level talks have taken place between India and China. It is being told that the 12th round of military talks lasted for about 9 hours. According to reports from Army sources, the talks ended at 7.30 pm. The talks took place in Oldi, located on the Chinese border near the Line of Actual Control. It is being told that in this conversation which lasted for 9 hours, there has been a discussion between the military commanders of both the countries to end the tension in eastern Ladakh. The situation on the border is quite tense due to the conflict between the soldiers of India and China after the dispute that emerged along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. Several rounds of talks have been held so far to reduce this tension. After which there is peace with the LAC at present but the tension has not subsided. How to start the process of withdrawal of troops from the standoff sites in eastern Ladakh between India and China was discussed during the military talks between the two countries. In the 12th round of military talks with China on Saturday, India emphasized the immediate withdrawal of troops from various tension points in Hot Spring, Gogra and eastern Ladakh. There is no formal comment/statement yet on the outcome of the talks at the Moldo border point on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. It was expected that the talks would lead to some significant positive progress towards the withdrawal process from Gogra and Hot Spring.
According to the information received, both the sides discussed to bring peace to the remaining tension points, proceed on the process of withdrawal of troops and jointly maintain stability at the ground level. A source said that the Indian side insisted on an immediate resolution of the standoff and especially the early withdrawal of troops from Hot Spring and Gogra. In the 12th round of talks, the Indian delegation was led by Lt Gen PGK Menon, Commander of the 14th Corps stationed in Leh.
This round of talks has happened after more than three and a half months from the last meeting. Earlier, the 11th round of military talks was held on April 9 at the Chushul border point on the Indian side of the LAC and this conversation lasted for about 13 hours. The 12th round of talks has ended nearly two weeks after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar firmly conveyed this to his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
The foreign ministers of the two countries held a bilateral meeting for about an hour on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe on July 14. In the meeting, Jaishankar had told Wang that any unilateral change in the status quo on the LAC was not acceptable to India and relations could develop only after complete restoration of peace and stability in eastern Ladakh.
In the last round of military talks, the two sides discussed ways to move forward with the withdrawal of troops in Hot Spring, Gogra and Depsang, with the broad objective of de-escalating tensions in the region. However, no further progress was made towards the withdrawal of troops.
