Military leaders of two nations review progress of withdrawal of troops
Agreeing to sustain the tempo of dialogue to defuse tension on the volatile Line of Control(LAC) in Eastern Ladakh, India on Sunday insisted that China completed the process of disengagement from all the “friction points.” including the Pangong Tso (lake) at the earliest.
While the pace of pullback is positive at three face-off sites, China is reluctant to ease the situation at the Pangong and has deployed additional troops.
The fifth round of talks between the Corps Commanders of the two armies — Lt General Harinder Singh and Major General Liu Lin — at Moldo on the LAC in Ladakh region on Sunday also reviewed the progress of withdrawal of troops by both the sides, including the front and depth areas, sources said here.
The Indian security establishment was keenly watching the evolving ground situation since the last Corps Commander-level talks were held on July 14.
The two sides had agreed for complete disengagement at the earliest but China refused to step the pace. The local commanders of the Indian Army have monitored the situation every 72 hours and sources said there was little movement by the Chinese since July 14.
During the latest round of parleys, the Indian commander reiterated that complete disengagement is part of major confidence building measure to end the ten-week old impasse at the border.
This insistence by India came as China has substantially reduced and withdrawn its troops from Galwan valley, Gogra and Hot Springs but has not done so at the Pangong Tso. In fact, the first faceoff took place at this place on May 5 when the Chinese intruded more than five km into India and obstructed an Indian army patrol. It led to exchange of blows.
Since then, the Chinese bolstered their troop strength there forcing India to take preventive steps to thwart any major challenge, sources said. As per the latest satellite photographs of the Pangong Tso, the Chinese have not withdrawn their troops despite agreement reached between the sides the last round of Commander level talks.
The Chinese continue to occupy positions in depth on slopes along ‘Finger 5’ and on slopes extending towards ‘Finger 8.’ India maintains the LAC is at Finger 8. Mountain spurs are called Finger. However, China is insisting that the LAC is at ‘Finger 4.’
Besides deploying on the crucial spurs, the Chinese have also built a jetty in the Indian side of the Pangong lake and moved several fast interceptor boats thereby posing a threat to the Indian security interests, they said.
Flagging its concern on tardy pace of disengagement, India on Thursday last week in a statement said the process of disengagement of troops in eastern Ladakh has not yet been completed though some progress has been made. This was a counter to China’s claim that frontline forces of the two countries have “completed” this exercise at most locations along their border.
After the last round of talks between the Corps Commanders, the statement said
India and China have been engaged in discussions through established military and diplomatic channels to address the prevailing situation along the LAC.
The engagement(July 14) was consistent with the consensus reached between the Special Representatives of India and China earlier, on July 5, to discuss complete disengagement.
