India, China holds fifth round of talks; Discuss disengagement from Pangong Tso lake

New Delhi, Aug 3: The fifth round of level-talks between the Commander of XIV Corps Lt General Harinder Singh and his Chinese counterpart Major General Liu Lin, Commander of the South Xinjiang Military Region was held to discuss the disengagement from Pangong Tso lake area by the Chinese troops.

 

 

 

The meeting between Corps Commanders of India and China lasted for more than 10 hours and ended at around 9:30 pm on Sunday. It took place on the Chinese side of the Chushul-Moldo Border Personnel Meeting (BPM), which is south of the Pangong Tso lake.

 

The disengagement talks began in early May after Chinese and Indian troops after tensions increased along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). There was complete disengagement achieved at PP15 in Hot Springs area and PP14 in Galwan Valley wherein 20 Indian soldiers martyred on June 15 following a brutal face-off took place between the Indian Army and China's People Liberation Army (PLA).

 

In the fourth round of talks, complete disengagement was discussed however in Pangong Tso, Chinese troops claimed Finger 4 on the north bank, 8 km west of Finger 8 which India says marks the LAC. However, after disengagement talks, the Chinese vacated the Finger 4 base area and went towards Finger 5 but they still occupy positions on the ridgeline at Finger 4.

 

Meanwhile, on Friday, China’s Ambassador to India Sun Weidong had said, "China’s traditional customary boundary line is in accordance with the LAC" on the north bank of the lake and had denied that the claims that China had expanded its territorial there.

 

Responding to this, the MEA had said that some progress has been made in the disengagement of troops along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh but "it has not yet been completed". It noted that it expected that the Chinese side will sincerely work for complete disengagement and de-escalation and full restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas at the earliest.

 

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava had earlier said that the two sides held the 17th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination last month and reviewed the situation in the India-China border areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western sector.