Ladakh Standoff: India-China Brigadier-level talks inconclusive in Chushul

To prevent the situation at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh from further escalating, the armies of India and China held an interaction on Saturday where they discussed withdrawing forces from the points where there are in eyeball-to-eyeball situations.

Brigade commanders of both sides met at Chushul and held an interaction from 11 am to 3 pm but the talks remained "inconclusive".

Both the countries' military delegates are continuously in talks since September 7, the day Chinese People's Liberation Army made a provocative move to occupy Indian territory at the LAC that was thwarted by the Indian Army.

Both countries have now decided to hold their sixth round of top-level military talks within the next few days. The corps commanders - 14 Corps commander Lt-General Harinder Singh and South Xinjiang Military District chief Major General Liu Lin have not met since August 2.

A senior government officer stated there is a complete breakdown of trust between both the militaries. China has mobilised thousands of soldiers, tanks and howitzers within shooting distance of each other in the Pangong Tso-Chushul area.

Indian soldiers then swiftly seized tactical heights on the ridge line stretching from Thakung on the southern bank of Pangong Tso to Gurung Hill, Spanggur Gap, Magar Hill, Mukhpari, Rezang La and Reqin La (Rechin mountain pass), and other height features near Chushul to pre-empt the Chinese army activities there.

The Chinese have since made multiple attempts to dislodge Indian troops from mountain heights.

India has also found that the Chinese side has started troop, artillery and armour build-up in three sectors of the LAC -- western (Ladakh), middle (Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh) and eastern (Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh).

India and China are engaged in a four-month-long standoff at the LAC in eastern Ladakh. Despite several levels of dialogue, there has been no breakthrough and the deadlock continues.