India asks China to vacate Pangong lake

New Delhi: Indian and Chinese corps commanders on Tuesday held another marathon meeting to negotiate further disengagement of troops from the flashpoints in the Ladakh sector and thinning the huge build-up by both sides at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The meeting started at 11.30 am at Chushul in the Ladakh sector on the Indian side of the LAC and went for around 12 hours. The Indian side pressed for early withdrawal of PLA troops from Pangong Tso and the Depsang plain. India also sought withdrawl of Chinese troops along with tanks, artillery and jammers. This was the fourth round of military-level talks between India and China to resolve the stand-off at LAC.

In the last meeting on June 30, 14 Corps commander Lt. Gen. Harinder Singh and South Xinjiang Military Region commander Maj. Gen. Liu Lin had agreed to mutually move back their troops at flash points by up to 2 km to bring down the chances of a confrontation.

Last week Indian and Chinese troops completed their initial phase of disengagement by mutually moving back from Galwan Valley, Hot Springs, Gogra Post and Finger 4 of Pangong Tso. India asked China that it should further disengage in these flashpoints and completely vacate Pangong Tso.

Chinese troops have moved back from Finger 4 to Finger 5 in the Pangong lake but are still occupying the ridges. Chinese troops still have to vacate the area between Finger 5 and Finger 8, which India claims as its territory.

In May, Chinese troops occupied the area and stopped Indian troops from patrolling the area.

As per the earlier agreement, a buffer zone of at least 1.5 km on both sides of the LAC has to be created in the areas of stand-off. There will be restrictions on patrolling in these buffer areas for some time and these zones will be monitored through drones and satellites.