10th round of military talks today
During Saturday’s meet, senior military commanders will discuss next round of disengagement at other friction points
The disengagement of Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) forces in eastern Ladakh’s Pangong Tso area ended Friday, and senior military commanders of the two sides will meet on Saturday to discuss the next round of disengagement at other friction points along the contested LAC, people familiar with the development said.
The 10th round of talks between corps commanderranked officers of the two armies will focus on disengagement at other friction points in eastern Ladakh, an official said. The senior commanders will meet at Moldo on the Chinese side of the LAC. Outstanding problems with PLA at Depsang, Hot Springs and Gogra, all friction points on the border, will be on the table during the talks.
NEW DELHI: The disengagement of Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) forces in eastern Ladakh’s Pangong Tso area ended Friday, and senior military commanders of the two sides will meet on Saturday to discuss the next round of disengagement at other friction points along the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC), people familiar with the development said.
The Pangong disengagement, which ends one part of a 10-month long impasse between the two armies, fraught with the danger of degenerating into a full-blown conflict, took place on strategic heights on both banks of the lake, and saw the two armies pull back their frontline troops, tanks, infantry combat vehicles (ICVs) and artillery guns under an agreement reached earlier this month. The disengagement began on February 10.
The India-China border standoff in the sensitive Ladakh sector began last May and saw both sides deploy around 50,000 troops each in the theatre along with advanced weaponry.
“Disengagement is complete in the Pangong Tso area and both sides have verified it. It went off smoothly both in the
Finger Area and the Kailash range,” said one of the officials cited above. Military structures erected after April 2020 in the Pangong Tso sector were also removed.
The 10th round of talks between corps commanderranked officers of the two armies will focus on disengagement at other friction points in eastern Ladakh, said a second official. The senior commanders will meet at Moldo on the Chinese side of the LAC.
Outstanding problems with PLA at Depsang, Hot Springs and Gogra, all friction points on the contested border, will be on the table during the talks. “We are hopeful of positive outcomes
at the talks, given the way things progressed in Pangong Tso,” said the second official.
Under the understanding between the two countries on the disengagement , outstanding issues relating to deployment and patrolling at the three friction points were to be taken up within 48 hours of pullback of troops in the Pangong Tso area.
It’s good to see that the first phase of disengagement has proceeded quickly and smoothly in the Pangong Tso area and this could provide a positive background for further discussions on other areas, said former Northern Army commander Lieutenant General DS Hooda (retd). “But I think we should not
expect very speedy results. Depsang, in particular, is one area where discussions to arrive at a consensus could be protracted. I do hope both sides can arrive at an agreement in the interest of keeping peace along the LAC.”
PLA’s deployments in Depsang have hindered access of Indian soldiers to routes including the ones leading to Patrolling Points (PP) 10, 11, 11-A, 12 and 13.
The Indian Army’s patrolling activity has also been affected in Gogra and Hot Springs, where rival troops are forward deployed and where skeletal disengagement took place last year, but the gains could not be consolidated.
Defence minister Rajnath
Singh told Parliament on February 11 that the disengagement will be phased, coordinated and verified at all friction points. He told both Houses that India did not “concede anything” during the military talks. The first round of disengagement at Pangong Tso involved pulling back troops deployed eyeball-toeyeball on the Finger 4 ridgeline at heights of almost 18,000 feet as well as withdrawing soldiers holding positions on the Kailash range on the south bank.
On the north bank, PLA has retreated to its base east of Finger 8, while the Indian Army has moved back to its permanent position near Finger 3. Under the disengagement agreement, neither side will patrol the contested areas in between Fingers 4 and 8 until an agreement is reached through future talks.
The Indian claim line in this sector extends to Finger 8, while the Chinese claim is up to Finger 4. India’s bold moves on the south bank of Pangong Tso last August boosted the army’s bargaining power during military talks and led to an agreement on disengagement. The Indian Army occupied a series of key heights to prevent the PLA from grabbing Indian territory on the south bank in a stealthy midnight move on August 29, 2020. The Indian Army followed this up by rushing its front-line tanks and ICVs to strategic heights held by its soldiers.