The military delegates of India and China met on Wednesday to find a way for the withdrawal of troops and the current standoff in Pangong Tso (lake) in Eastern Ladakh. “The meeting ended on a positive trajectory and more similar meetings between both the countries’ forces’ delegates to take place,” IANS quoted a source as saying.
The official stated, “More talks expected at different levels in the days to come for complete de-induction and withdrawal of additional troop deployment close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC).”
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that both sides are taking steps to ease the situation along the borders. “Recently the diplomatic and military channels of China and India held effective communication on the situation along the border and reached positive consensus. The two sides are following this consensus to take actions to ease the situation along the borders,” Hua said.
China’s official statement comes a day after officials in New Delhi said that Indian and Chinese troops have started the process of de-escalation at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with withdrawal of troops, guns and combat vehicles from three standoff positions in Eastern Ladakh. The withdrawal started after top military-level talks took place on 6 June between India and China.
The standoff, however, remains unresolved regarding India’s contention of Chinese troop build-up at Finger 4 in Pangong Tso.
The Indian military delegation was headed by the Commander of Lehbased 14 Corp, Lieutenant General Harinder Singh, while the Chinese side was headed by Major General Liu Lin, Commander of South Xinjiang Military Region.
Five main issues were discussed during the meeting. They included de-escalation of soldiers from four standoff points from both the countries. The four standoff points are Finger Four of North Bank of Pangong Lake, Patrolling Point 14 near Galwan Valley, Patrolling Point 15 and Patrolling Point 17-A.
Sources said that India wanted a pre-8 May position. Clashes between Indian and Chinese troops happened several times between 5 May and 8 May. Thereafter, the Chinese increased deployment of troops and guns while the Indian Army too deployed forces and moved guns in equal numbers. With agency inputs