Talks took place on the Indian side of LAC in the Chushul area (File)
New Delhi:
The Indian and Chinese armed forces held a dialogue at the level of the corps commander on Tuesday for more than 10 hours, focusing on finalizing the arrangements for the disengagement of troops from various stopping points in eastern Ladakh and explored ways to reduce tensions in the region, government sources told me.
At the meeting, the Indian delegation expressed concern over China’s “new lines of claim” in the region and demanded the restoration of the status quo ante as well as the immediate withdrawal of Chinese troops from the Galwan Valley , Pangong Tso and a number of other regions, they said.
Talks took place on the Indian side of the Line of Effective Control (LAC) in the Chushul area of eastern Ladakh. The meeting started at 11 a.m. and continued beyond 9 p.m., the sources said.
The Indian delegation to the meeting was chaired by the commander of the 14th Corps, Corps General Harinder Singh, while the Chinese side was chaired by the Commander of the Tibetan Military District General, Liu Lin.
The sources said that the Indian side also pleaded to strictly follow the provisions of a number of agreements on handling issues relating to the handling of border issues.
Talks focused on finalizing modalities for de-escalation and disengagement of troops from various points of friction, the sources said, adding that there were also deliberations on confidence-building measures.
There was no official word on the details of the meeting. This was the third meeting at the corps commander level since the impasse began on May 5.
In the two previous rounds of talks, the Indian side demanded the immediate withdrawal of Chinese troops from various regions of the region.
Indian and Chinese armies have been locked in a bitter deadlock at several locations in eastern Ladakh in the past seven weeks, and tension has escalated after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a violent clash in the Galwan Valley on June 15. The Chinese side has also suffered, but details remain to be worked out.
During talks on June 22, the two sides reached a “mutual consensus” to “disengage” from all sticking points in eastern Ladakh. The two previous rounds of dialogue took place in Moldo on the Chinese side of the LAC region.
Tensions intensified in eastern Ladakh after some 250 Chinese and Indian soldiers engaged in a violent confrontation on May 5 and 6. The Pangong Tso incident was followed by a similar incident in northern Sikkim on May 9.
Before the clashes, the two sides said that while awaiting a final settlement of the border issue, it was necessary to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas.
