INDIA- CHINA

the case of Pangong Tso, where disengagement took place after nine rounds.

The corps commanders’ meetings have had mixed results as those talks were successful in negotiating the disengagement in the Pangong Tso area but there has been no further progress, said former Northern Army commander Lieutenant General DS Hooda (retd). “It is important to understand that success in negotiations between military commanders has to be preceded by groundwork that is laid by political and diplomatic engagements. We saw this happening prior to the ninth round of military talks where both sides worked out the modalities for disengagement from Pangong Tso. A similar combined effort is required,” Hooda said.

He added that the military commanders by themselves cannot take any decisions unless the principles of an agreement have been worked out at the political or diplomatic level.

The Indian Army’s focus is on resolving outstanding problems with the PLA at Hot Springs, Gogra and Depsang, but the disengagement process has hit a wall as a result of the PLA’S reluctance to pull back its forward deployed troops and restore the status quo ante of April 2020, as previously reported by Hindustan Times.

The Indian Army’s patrolling activity has been affected in Hot Springs and Gogra, where rival troops are forward deployed and where skeletal disengagement took place last year, but the gains could not be consolidated.

The PLA’S deployments in Depsang have also hindered access of Indian soldiers to routes including the ones leading to Patrolling Points (PP) 10, 11, 11-A, 12 and 13.

To be sure, the problems at Depsang predate the current border standoff.

“Disengagement is just the first phase of a broader, more comprehensive plan of establishing the status quo ante of April 2020. It will be followed by de-escalation and finally de-induction of forces. We continue to remain vigilant,” Naravane said on May 28.

The two armies held the first round of military talks on June 6, 2020. However, the Galwan Valley skirmish on June 15, 2020 created severe complications and dashed hopes of any significant breakthrough.