As stalemate continues at the Line of Actual Control(LAC), India and China will hold the eighth round of Corps Commander level talks on November 6. The two top military officers will review the current situation at the border and devise ways to hasten disengagement and de-escalation, sources said here on Wednesday.
The last round of military level parleys were held on October 13 at Chushul-Moldo border meeting at the LAC in Ladakh. The two sides agreed to sustain the momentum of dialogue and maintain peace and tranquility at the LAC.
Incidentally, the forthcoming talks will see a new Indian Corps Commander Lt General P G K Menon. His predecessor Lt General Harinder Singh has taken over as the Commandant of the prestigious Indian Military Academy(IMA), Dehradun. He held the previous seven rounds of talks with his Chinese counterpart Major General Liu Lin.
The next round of talks comes in the backdrop of the military and diplomatic level parleys so far not making much headway. The sixth round of Corps Commander level talks on September 21 saw both the sides issuing a joint statement for the first time stating that both the countries should not send more troops to the border.
While India has all along favoured talks to resolve the border dispute now on for the last six months, the security establishment is prepared for a long haul.
The Army has pumped in additional 30,000 troops in Ladakh and they join the existing force levels for deployment in the winter months there. Moreover, the last few months saw the Indian army aided by the IAF ramping up its winter stocking in terms of logistical supplies and prefabricated huts. The special winter clothes and insulated huts will help the soldiers withstand harsh cold when temperatures dip to minus 20 to 25 degrees. The Chinese are also taking similar measures.
Meanwhile, the two sides have reaffirmed their resolve to follow the five-point plan mutually agreed by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese Wang Yi in bilateral talks in Moscow on September 10. The two ministers also stressed the need for continuing the dialogue in an effort to disengage as soon as possible. The talks were held on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO)foreign ministers conclave.
At present, the entire 1,700 km long LAC in Ladakh is tense with both the armies deploying a total of more than one lakh troops besides heavy weapons.
Moreover, the next round of talks will take place when the Quad countries including India, US, Japan and Australia are taking part in the Malabar series of naval exercise off the Bay of Bengal. China had objected to the inclusion of Australia in the exercise held annually. However, India went ahead and invited the Australian navy for the prestigious event.
