The last time the general commanders of the Corps met was on April 9 for the 11th round of negotiations. At that time, the Indian Army informed the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) that withdrawal from all friction points along the disputed border would be a decisive factor in easing the conflict.
In the 12th round of military negotiations in the Ladakh region last week, the Supreme Command of India and China agreed to quickly resolve outstanding issues on the Royal Line of Control (LAC). The focus of the dialogue was to withdraw opponents and stay in the flames. middle. The disputed boundary was stipulated in a joint statement issued on Saturday. The army commanders met on Saturday as part of a final effort to ease tensions on the border between the two countries. "Negotiations have made some progress, and we are gradually formulating plans to close Hot Springs and Gogra. We look forward to achieving positive results in future negotiations," said a senior official who asked not to be named.
The twelfth round of military negotiations was held in Moldo, the Chinese side of the line of actual control, and lasted 9 hours. The Joint Statement described the negotiations as "a sincere and thorough exchange of views on resolving the remaining issues related to the delimitation of the entire LAC in the western border region of India and China." The latest round of negotiations follows the Indian-Chinese Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in Dushanbe on July 14 and the 22nd meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on the Border Issue between India and China on June 25. India and China have been in a border conflict for nearly 15 months. During this period, a deadly battle took place in the Galway Valley last year, and tensions between the armed forces on the north and south coasts of Pangong Co were spiralling.
The two armies began negotiations on easing border tensions in June 2020, but they made their first breakthrough after the ninth round of negotiations earlier this year, leading to advanced troops and armaments in the Bangongcuo area in the middle of the year. Withdrawal. In February, as HT has already reported, the problems of Hot Springs, Gogra and Depsang still need to be resolved. . Since the withdrawal of Pangong-T, the deployment has not decreased, so the two armies each have 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers in the Ladakh theatre.
The People's Liberation Army is unwilling to withdraw its frontline troops and restore the status quo before April 2020, which has had an impact on the withdrawal. . Due to the deployment of the Chinese army, the Indian army's patrols in Wenquan and Gogla were suspended. The PLA’s forward presence in Depsang also made it difficult for Indian soldiers to access routes including patrol points (PP) 10, 11, 11A, 12, and 13. However, Depsang’s problem appeared before the current border conflict.