Corps Commander meet concludes; outcome today
India presses for complete disengagement from Hot Springs area in the Ladakh sector
NEW DELHI: India and China on Sunday held 13th round of Corps Commander meeting with India pressing for complete disengagement from Hot Springs area in the Ladakh sector.
"The Corps Commanders' talks started at around 10:30 am in Moldo on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and ended at 7 pm in the evening,” said sources.
A statement on the outcome of the talks could be released on Monday.
India and China had undertaken partial disengagement in Hot Springs last year so an agreement on a pullback from it could be reached. However, till now China has shown no interest to deescalate the situation in Depsang plains where it is blocking Indian troops from patrolling.
During the 12th round of Corps Commander meetings in August, both sides agreed to pull back from Gogra. Before Gogra, Indian and Chinese troops had disengaged from Galwan Valley and Pangong Tso in Ladakh.
The talks were being held on Saturday when on Chinese social media new propaganda pictures of Indian soldiers under PLA custody from last year were being circulated. This was in response to India and Chinese face-off in Arunachal Pradesh last week where some reports suggested that a small group of PLA soldiers was detained by Indian troops.
Also, some 100 Chinese soldiers had crossed Line of Actual Control at Barahoti in Uttarakhand on August 30 and had stayed inside Indian territory for a few hours before returning.
Army chief Gen. M.M. Naravane said on Saturday that if the Chinese military maintained its large-scale deployment through the second winter, it might lead to an LoC-like situation though not an active LoC was there on the western front with Pakistan. He said in response to Chinese deployment, the Indian Army too will maintain its presence on its side which is "as good as what the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) has done".
India has deployed around 50,000 troops in Ladakh. India has also deployed tanks, armoured vehicles, heavy artillery guns and air defence missiles in Ladakh. China is also upgrading its airbases in the sector and has also deployed Russian Air Defence Systems.