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The Indian delegation was led by the commander of XIV Corps, which is responsible for the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China in eastern Ladakh, Lt Gen Anindya Sengupta (Reuters Photo/File) Indian and Chinese Corps Commanders met for the 15th time on Friday to try to resolve the balance friction areas in eastern Ladakh. The meeting, which began on the Indian side of the Chushul-Moldo border personnel meeting point, started at 10 in the morning and continued till late in the evening.
The Indian delegation was led by the commander of XIV Corps, which is responsible for the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China in eastern Ladakh, Lt Gen Anindya Sengupta, who had taken over as the Corps Commander just before the 14th round of discussions in January.
For China, the delegation was headed by Maj Gen Yang Lin, commander of the South Xinjiang Military District, who too had led the discussions in the 14th round in January for the first time.
The Indian side was hopeful that the discussions on Friday could lead to disengagement from Patrolling Point (PP) 15 in the Hot Springs area, where both sides have a platoon-sized strength of soldiers, but the Chinese troops are on the Indian side of the LAC.
Sources in the Indian security establishment said they were also hopeful of reaching an understanding to reduce the number of additional troops and weapons positioned in the region by both sides.
In Depsang Plains, which is close to India’s strategic Daulat Beg Oldie base in the north, Chinese troops are blocking Indian soldiers from accessing five traditional patrolling limits—PP10, PP11, PP11A, PP12 and PP13—at an area known as the Bottleneck, which is 18 km inside the LAC.
In Demchok some Chinese have pitched tents on the Indian side of the LAC and refused to vacate them. Sources said that the issues of Depsang Plains and Demchok were also likely to be raised during Friday’s discussions.
Ahead of the meeting, a defence establishment source said both sides would focus “to achieve a resolution of balance friction areas” and that the recent “statements by both sides to find a mutually acceptable solution have been encouraging and positive in nature”.
Since the standoff began almost two years ago, in May 2020, the two sides have pulled back their troops from PP14 in the Galwan Valley, north and south banks of Pangong Tso, including the Kailash Range heights in the Chushul sub-sector, and PP17A in the Gogra Post area.
In all these areas a temporary no-patrolling zone has been created to avoid any inadvertent face-offs till the standoff is resolved.
However, each side has more than 50,000 troops in the region, along with additional air defence, artillery, tanks and other weapon systems.
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