China's PLA says won't remove troops from strategic Green Top area near Pangong Lake

China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) negotiators have declined to commit to removing troops from Green Top, near Pangong Lake, during the fifth round of military talks in Moldo.

Green Top is a bush-covered plateau perched at over 5,000 metres on a ridge stretching out from Pangong’s north shore. It is one of the tactically-significant locations on which the PLA and the Indian Army negotiators remain in a deadlock despite five rounds of high-level talks, CNN News18 reported citing government sources.

Senior commanders of the Indian Army and the PLA held intense negotiations for nearly 11 hours on August 2 at a designated meeting point in Moldo on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The PLA commanders are seeking to hold on to Green Top because it gives a clear line of observation over Dhan Singh Post, which is the main logistics hub for Indian troop movements around Pangong Lake, government sources told the publication.

During the negotiations, the PLA claimed its position on Green Top is “legitimised by the build-up of Indian roads and communications infrastructure in the area—in turn, a response to years of construction work by China,” said the report.

In their arguments, the PLA said that “India has also violated the status-quo in the Pangong area,” an officer familiar with the talks was quoted as saying.

However, the officer said that their claim has “no basis” because all the works India has undertaken are clearly on its own side of the LAC, the report stated.

The Chinese army has pulled back from Galwan Valley and certain other areas, but the withdrawal of troops has not moved forward from the Finger Four and Eight areas in Pangong Tso as demanded by India. The mountain spurs in the area are referred to as Fingers.

China also has not completed withdrawal of troops from Gogra areas.