After the standoff that lasted more than six months at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, India and China are believed to be close to a breakthrough, news agency ANI quoted top defence sources as saying. India, however, given its past experiences with China, is moving cautiously.
“The two sides are likely to disengage from some of the friction points in next few days and they have been discussing the modalities for doing so in a phased manner,” defence sources told ANI. “However, the Indian side is moving ahead cautiously on this matter as they want the discussions and agreements to be implemented on the ground,” they continued.
In June also, the two sides were discussing disengagement when the Galwan incident took place in which 20 India soldiers lost lives while a large number of Chinese troops also lost their lives.
As per the sources, the discussions between the two sides include pulling back tanks and armoured vehicles from their present positions, and some development in this regard is likely to take place in the next few days.
After the 8th round of talks, the two sides have to discuss some more issues to finetune the present proposals before acting on them,” they added.
Earlier on Sunday, India and China issued a joint statement on the eighth round of India-China Corps Commander Level Meeting which was held in Chushul. “The two sides had a candid, in-depth and constructive exchange of views on disengagement along the Line of Actual Control in the Western Sector of India-China border areas,” the statement read.
An official statement of the Ministry of External Affairs said that the two sides engaged constructively in their eighth round of corps commander level meeting to resolve the standoff in the eastern Ladakh region. The meeting was held in Chushul along the LAC on 6 November.
In the talks, both sides agreed to earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, ensure their frontline troops to exercise restraint and avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation.
They agreed to maintain dialogue and communication through military and diplomatic channels, and, taking forward the discussions at this meeting, push for the settlement of other outstanding issues, so as to jointly maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas. “They also agreed to have another round of meeting soon,” the statement said.
India and China have been engaged in a military standoff for over six months now with China moving 60,000 troops on Indian border after India also acted swiftly and deployed an almost equal number of troops on its side to prevent any further misadventure by China.
After the Chinese transgressed into multiple locations in India, the Indian side also made its move on August 29-30 to occupy heights in the Northern and Southern Pangong lake area.
The Indian action on the LAC has been led by NSA Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, Army Chief Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane and Air Force Chief R.K.S. Bhadauria who have been dealing strongly with the situation.
WITH ANI INPUTS
