Indian, Chinese armies retreat in Galwan: Reports

Saturday’s talks mainly on Pangong

There appears to be some breakthrough in the standoff between India and China in Ladakh before the crucial highlevel military talks on Saturday, with reports suggesting both armies have retreated from one of the three flashpoints in the Galwan Valley.

Television reports said that in one of the Galwan flashpoints, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army had retreated by 2 km and the Indian Army by 1 km.

The high-level military talks between Indian and Chinese officers on Saturday will mainly discuss the standoff between the two armies at Pangong Tso lake, and sources said the Galwan Valley standoff may not even be on the agenda as India believes in this area the Chinese have come at a place which was never disputed. There was, however, no confirmation on the agenda.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh had said Tuesday that a meeting of high- level Army officers from both sides wass scheduled on June 6. Lehbased 14 Corps commander Lt. Gen. Harinder Singh is due to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart to resolve the row. The meeting will take place at Chushul-Moldo.

In the northern bank of Pangong Tso lake, India claims its area is from Finger 1 to Finger 8, while the Chinese claim their area is from Finger 8 till Finger 2. The standoff between the two sides usually happens when patrol parties come face to face between Finger 4 and Finger 8, which is claimed by both sides. This time, sources said, the Chinese brought in a large number of troops to lay its claim in the area and prevent patrolling by Indian troops.

There have been over 10 rounds of talks already between the two sides at

different levels, from commanding officers, brigadiers to major generals, to resolve the issue. There were even talks in the Galwan area at one of the patrolling points — PP14.

Amid the standoff with India, the Chinese military in Tibet held nighttime high-altitude “infiltration exercises behind enemy lines”, the Chinese state media reported. It is suspected that some troops from this exercise were diverted by the PLA towards the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh.

A report in Beijing’s Global Times said the PLA Tibet Military Command recently sent troops to a high-altitude region 4,700 meters high at night to test their combat capability under a harsh environment.