India, China talk troop pullback at Hot Springs

New Delhi, July 17

Military Commanders of India and China on Sunday sat down with their delegations to hold discussions to end the Line of Actual Control (LAC) stalemate in eastern Ladakh.

Today’s meeting is the first such interaction in four months and the 16th round of talks since June 2020 to ease the military build-up that has come up on both sides of the LAC since April 2020.

India pushed for

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• Early disengagement of troops from all remaining friction points along the LAC
• Restoration of the status quo ante, as of April 2020

The meeting, which started around 9.30 am on the Indian side of the Chushul-Moldo meeting point in eastern Ladakh, carried on till 10 pm.

The two sides discussed the disengagement of troops at Patrolling Point (PP)-15, also known as Hot Springs. The issue of Depsang Bulge, a 972-sq km plateau, will be taken up after the Hot Springs issue gets resolved. Also, the resumption of patrolling in disputed areas which has been suspended since April 2020 will come up for discussion.

India has suggested a graded resolution and a three-step process to ease the standoff: disengagement of troops, de-escalation of tension and deinduction of all troops, weapons and equipment. Till these steps are completed, Indian troops intend to remain at the LAC, which is un-demarcated on the ground. India shares an 832-km-long LAC with China in the eastern Ladakh sector. The Indian delegation at the talks was led by Lt General Anindya Sengupta, the commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps, while the Chinese team was headed by South Xinjiang Military District Chief Major General Yang Lin. There was no official word on the outcome of the talks.

The last round of talks was on March 11 this year and had ended in stalemate. After the last meeting, a statement of the Ministry of Defence had said: “The two sides carried forward their discussions from the previous round held on January 12 for the resolution of the relevant issues along the LAC in the western sector”.