India, China corps commanders' meet gives no sign on agreement to disengage

A third meeting between Indian and Chinese corps commanders on Tuesday had not yielded any tangible measures to de-escalate the crisis caused by the capture of Indian-claimed territory by Chinese troops in Ladakh.

The meeting was held at Chushul, on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) — the de facto Sino-Indian border — between India’s Leh corps commander, Lieutenant General Harinder Singh, and China’s Commander of the South Xinjiang Military Region, Major General Liu Lin.

Neither the defence ministry nor the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) made any comment on the outcome.

However, sources in the Army’s public affairs directorate stated: “Both sides have emphasised the need for an expeditious, phased and stepwise de-escalation as a priority.” It is learnt that the Chinese side made no commitment towards disengaging or withdrawing from seven areas on the Indian side of the LAC that China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have entrenched themselves in, since May 5. In the first corps commanders’ meeting on June 6, the Indian military officers believed the Chinese had agreed to disengage and pull back from the Galwan River valley. But when Indian soldiers went close to the LAC to ascertain that the PLA had withdrawn, they were ambushed by Chinese soldiers, resulting in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers and an unspecified number of Chinese.

Currently, the PLA remains ensconced at Patrolling Point (PP) 14 in the Galwan River valley, as well as at six other places on the Indian side of the LAC: The Bottleneck area in the Depsang area, Jeevan Nullah, PP15 in Galwan, Gogra Heights at PP17, Chushul, and in the north bank of Pangong Lake up to Finger 4. 

Reflecting the tension in the military-to-military talks on Tuesday, Army sources said the meeting was “held in a business-like manner, keeping in view the Covid-19 protocols.”

“The process of disengagement along the LAC is complex and in such a context, speculative and unsubstantiated (media) reports need to be avoided,” stated sources.

Meanwhile, Indian troops have been deployed near the PLA intruders, to prevent further ingress by the Chinese. Also, India’s military has begun mobilising and moving troops to the border to deal with any situation that arises.

While the two sides continue discussions in diplomatic channels, as well as military, the Chinese side is insisting that the areas the PLA has occupied belong to China, not India.

On June 17, in the wake of the killing of 20 Indian soldiers, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Li, agreed that both sides would handle the situation responsibly and would sincerely implement the June 6 disengagement agreement.

Notwithstanding that commitment, Chinese soldiers contin     ue to occupy close to 100 square kilometres of Indian-claimed territory and are engaged in building concrete defences, accommodation, roads and tracks that connect with the communications infrastructure on the Chinese side of the LAC.

“More meetings are expected, both at the military and the diplomatic level, in future to arrive at (a) mutually agreeable solution and to ensure peace and tranquillity along the LAC as per bilateral agreements and protocols,” said Army sources.