India, China de-escalate military standoff on Ladakh

New Delhi: In the second round of military talks between India and China, Major Generals from the two armies met on Wednesday to try to de-escalate the month-long military stand-off at the line of actual control (LAC) in the Ladakh sector.

India and China armies are scheduled to also hold talks at various levels from brigadier level to commanding officers in the next 10 days at different points along the LAC in an attempt to resolve the military stand-off. These are follow-up of the Lieutenant General level talks which were held between Indian and Chinese armies on Saturday.

“The Major General level talks were held today on the Indian side,” said a senior official.

 Indian army’s 14 Corps Commander Lt Gen Harinder Singh  and People’s Liberation Army’s South Xinjiang Military Region, commander Maj Gen Liu Lin had held over 5 hours long meeting on Saturday in Moldo.

Following this meeting there has been slight disengagement between the two armies at three points  Patrolling point 14 (Galwan area), Patrolling point 15, and Hot Springs.

India has asked China to reduce the build-up of its troops at the LAC and revert to the status quo of April in Pangong Tso, Hot Springs and Galwan Valley.

The main contention between Indian and Chinese troops remains the Northern bank of Pangong Tso lake where Chinese troops have pitched tents at finger 4 location to prevent the Indian army to patrol till Finger 8 which India believes is part of its territory. The troops from the two sides were involved in a brutal clash at Pangong Tso on the intervening night of May 5th and May 6th.   

The major threat still remains the massive buildup by both armies along with artillery, radars, armored vehicles and tanks in their in-depth areas along the line of actual control (LAC). Until and unless these troops move back to the peace-time locations the threat perception will remain high at the LAC.