India to push for complete disengagement in Ladakh during October 12 meet with China

This round of talks between India and China to achieve disengagement along LAC in eastern Ladakh will also be the last to be attended by commander of Fire and Fury Corps Lt Gen Harinder Singh.

[REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE] File photo of Indian Army convoy moving on Manali-Leh highway (Photo Credits: PTI)

India’s top political and military leaders on Friday discussed the stance to be taken during the next round of talks with China. These talks are to be held on October 12 at the Moldo border personnel meeting point on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

“Top political and military leaders discussed the agenda for talks between the two countries at military level to be held on Monday,” highly-placed sources in the central government told India Today and Aaj Tak.

This will be the seventh round of talks between the two sides. Despite multiple rounds of military and diplomatic talks between India and China, disengagement in eastern Ladakh is yet to be achieved owing to China’s failure to honour its bilateral commitments.

India is of the view that the Chinese should discuss the entire eastern Ladakh area while agreeing to disengage and de-escalate in the region. However, the Chinese are not willing to discuss any issue beyond Pangong Tso lake area.

This will also be the last round of talks to be attended by present corps commander of Fire and Fury Corps Lt Gen Harinder Singh since his successor Lt Gen PGK Menon has already reached Leh to take over the charge. The transgressions in eastern Ladakh took place in April-May timeframe while Singh had taken over the Corps in October last year.

The political and military leadership including External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane and Air Force Chief RKS Bhadauria have been involved in tackling the issue of Chinese transgressions. The core security team led by the NSA has been actively involved in thwarting Chinese bids to occupy strategic heights in the southern and northern Pangong lake area.

The Indian side is likely to be strict on its demand for complete de-escalation and disengagement from the area. Almost 50,000 troops from the Indian Army and Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have been engaged in an intense stand-off for over five months now.



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