The 12th round of Corps Commander level talks between India and China will be held in Moldo on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) around 10:30 am on Saturday. India and China expected to discuss disengagement from the Hot Springs and Gogra Heights areas, Indian Army sources told CNN-News18.
Unlike the last few rounds, these talks come amidst optimism that India and China will possibly arrive at a deal on disengagement at 2 friction points – Gogra and Hot Springs. Sources say this is a “low hanging fruit’ as there are only 80-100 troops on either side in close proximity. The bigger challenge is Depsang, which is unlikely to be discussed in Moldo on Saturday.
India and China held a virtual meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on border affairs last month as part of the dialogue process to resolve the standoff.
In the meeting, the two sides agreed to hold the next round of military talks at an early date to achieve the objective of complete disengagement in the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh.
The 11th round of Corps Commander-level talks between the two sides on the border row was held on April 9. India and China were locked in a military standoff at multiple friction points in eastern Ladakh since early May last year. However, the two sides completed the withdrawal of troops and weapons from the North and South banks of Pangong lake in February following a series of military and diplomatic talks.
Army Chief Gen MM Naravane has told CNN-NEWS18 that there are 60,000 troops on either side in Eastern Ladakh. He has also denied reports of any fresh clashes between Indian and Chinese soldiers in Galwan. There are two lakh Indian troops now focused on the 3,487 km-long LAC.
The 12 Crops Cdr level talks come 2 weeks after Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi met in Tashkent and agreed that military commanders should “meet at the earliest.” The Indian side will be led by Lt Gen PGK Memon, Commander of the Leh based 14 Corps.
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