India firm on demand for disengagement
Tough negotiations held during the Corps Commanders level meeting; meeting going on after 13 hrs
Corps Commanders from India and China on Monday held another marathon meeting, to try to resolve the over fourmonth-long military stand-off between the two countries at eastern Ladakh. There is a possibility that negotiations will continue on Tuesday too.
For the first time the representative from the ministry of external affairs, joint secretary (East Asia) Naveen Srivastava, took part in the meeting. The presence of the representative from MEA was to signal that India was serious to resolve the stand-off with China through discussion and negotiations.
Senior officials here said that there was no information about another round of meeting on Tuesday. Tough negotiations were being held during meeting which had lasted 13 hours and was going on at the time of going to press.
India asked for complete disengagement from all points in eastern Ladakh where China has transgressed into Indian territory including Pangong
Tso and Gogra Post-Hot Springs. The People’s Liberation Army of China has also been preventing Indian patrols in the Depsang sector. India has made it clear that since it was China that had transgressed, it will have to make the first move towards disengagement. In all previous meetings China has refused to disengage from the Pangong lake and Gogra Post.
India wants restoration of status quo ante of April at Eastern Ladakh.
The meetings with Chinese military tend to be lengthy as discussions usually need to be translated from English to Chinese language and then again from Chinese to English. The meeting started around 9:30 in the morning at Moldo on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) near the southern bank of the Pangong Tso where shots have been fired for the first time in 45 years.
The Indian delegation is headed by 14 Corps Commander Lt. Gen. Harinder Singh. Lt Gen P.G.K. Menon, who is likely to replace Lt Gen Singh next month, was also present.