Border standoff: Army commanders of India, China hold 6th round of talks

New Delhi: Senior army commanders of India and China on Monday held talks on implementing a five-point agreement reached between the two countries on disengagement of troops and de-escalation of the tense situation in eastern Ladakh, government sources said.

The sixth round of Corps commander-level talks began at around 9 AM in Moldo on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) across India’s Chushul sector in eastern Ladakh, they said.

The Indian delegation is headed by Lt Gen Harinder Singh, the commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps of the Indian Army.

The team also included a joint secretary-level officer from the Ministry of External Affairs(MEA) and Lt. Gen PGK Menon, who is expected to succeed Singh as the commander of the 14 Corps next month, the sources said. It is for the first time that a senior official from the MEA was part of the high-level military talks aimed at defusing the volatile situation in the mountainous region.

Maj Gen Liu Lin, the commander of the South Xinjiang military region, is slated to lead the Chinese delegation.

“The meeting is underway,” said a source.

The government sources said the agenda for the Monday talks was to chart a specific timeline for implementation of the agreement reached between the two countries at a meeting between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meet in Moscow on September 10.

The agreement aimed at ending the over four-month-long border standoff included measures like quick disengagement of troops, avoiding action that could escalate tensions, adherence to all agreements and protocols on border management and steps to restore peace along the LAC.