Ladakh Standoff: India, China 5th Round Of Commander Level Talks Today; Pangong, Gogra On Agenda

This is the 5th round of commander levels talk and it will be held in Moldo, the Chinese side of LAC

(Image: PTI)

New Delhi: The fifth round of Corps Commander-level talks between India and China will be held on Sunday scale down tensions along the de facto border. India will focus on "complete disengagement" by China in Ladakh's Finger area. The Indian and Chinese armies will be holding Commander-level talks at 11 am today in Moldo - the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control. ALSO READ|Ladakh Standoff: India, China Complete Disengagement Exercise At Galwan, Hot Springs, Gogra Points Along LAC The standoff at Patrolling Point 17A at Gogra, where disengagement between the Indian and the Chinese troops has not taken place yet, is also likely to feature in the fifth round of Corps Commander level talks. In the Pangong Tso area in eastern Ladakh, the Chinese troops have strengthened their positions between Finger 5 and 8. India is likely to take this up at the 5th round of Corps Commander-level talks today. The previous talks took place on July 14. While both sides have stepped back in Galwan Valley and Hot Springs as agreed upon, the other two friction points —Pangong Tso and PP17 Gogra — have seen minimal progress. The pulling back has been stalled at Pangong Tso and Depsang Plains and 50 soldiers from both sides remain in a stand-off. On June 30, India had said that disengagement of troops in eastern Ladakh has not yet been completed, two days after China claimed that the process was completed.

 "There has been some progress made towards this objective but the disengagement process has as yet not been completed," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said at an online media briefing when asked about China's claim that the frontline troops of the two countries have completed disengagement at most localities along the LAC.

So far, four rounds of Army Cdr level talks, two rounds of WMCC meetings, and one virtual meet between Special Representatives of India and China, Ajit Doval, and Wang Yi have taken place. National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, earlier this month, held a nearly two-hour-long telephonic conversation to bring down the tension between the armies of the two countries in eastern Ladakh. The tension in eastern Ladakh escalated manifold after the violent clashes in Galwan Valley on June 15 in which 20 Indian Army personnel were killed. The Chinese side also suffered casualties but it is yet to give out the details. According to an American intelligence report, the number of casualties on the Chinese side was 35.