Armies talk 11 hours, India wants China pullback first
India and China on Monday held high-level military talks on the stand-off at the Ladakh sector which has resulted in casualties on both sides.
Sources said that the Chinese Army had requested the meeting. Indian Army’s 14 Corps Commander Lt. Gen. Harinder Singh met People’s Liberation Army’s South Xinjiang Military Region Commander Maj. Gen. Liu Lin at Moldo, which is on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), at 11.30 am for more than 11 hours.
India is believed to have asked China to disengage from Galwan valley and restore status quo in Pangong Tso and Hot Springs during the second high level military talks between the top commanders. India has demanded a timeline from the Chinese on their withdrawal.
India planned to raise the issue of violence at Patrolling Point 14 in the Galwan valley on June 15, despite agreeing on June 6 to disengage from the area.
India believes that
Chinese troops should go back at least 10 km in Galwan valley, where 20 soldiers including 16 Bihar’s Commanding Officer Colonel B. Santosh Babu were killed on June 15. The Chinese Army during earlier meetings had admitted that they had also a commanding officer during the clash.
The sticking point seems to be Pangong Tso where Chinese have brought in a large number of soldiers and built up bunkers and structures around Finger 4 area. At Pangong Tso, Indian troops have been patrolling till Finger 8.
Meanwhile, top Army commanders met here on Monday for a two day conference under Army chief General M.M. Naravane to discuss the latest developments and the “operational situation”. The Army chief will again visit Ladakh sector this week to review the preparedness.
Even as the meeting was going on, a second video of a fist fight between India and Chinese soldiers was leaked on the social media. It looked to have been taken place on the LAC in Sikkim. The Chinese soldiers were seen wearing masks which indicated that it would had been taken recently. At one point, a Chinese soldier is seen falling and is punched and kicked by Indian soldiers. An Indian soldier is seen mocking a Chinese soldier, “gol gappe khayega?” (will you like to have gol gappe).