Indian and Chinese military will hold their first extensive talks on Saturday, and both sides are expected to deliberate on specific proposals to end the month-long bitter standoff in eastern Ladakh. The talks will be led by lieutenant generals from both the armies. The general officer commanding of Leh-based 14 Corps, Lt Gen Harinder Singh, is set to represent India at the talks which is scheduled to be held at one of the border meeting points.
The Indian side is expected to present specific proposals at the talks to deescalate tension in Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley and Demchok—the three areas in eastern Ladakh where the two sides have been on a bitter standoff for last one month. The trigger for the face-off was China's stiff opposition to India laying a key road in the Finger area around the Pangong Tso Lake besides construction of another road connecting the Darbuk-Shayok-Daulat Beg Oldie road in Galwan Valley.
On May 5, around 250 Indian and Chinese army personnel clashed with iron rods, sticks, and even resorted to stone-pelting in the Pangong Tso lake area of Ladakh, in which soldiers on both sides sustained injuries.
In a separate incident, nearly 150 Indian and Chinese military personnel were engaged in a face-off near Naku La Pass in the Sikkim sector on May 9. At least 10 soldiers from both sides sustained injuries.
After Chinese accusation of Indian Army's border transgressions and strong Indian pushback, Ladakh had become a festering point for the Sino-Indian relations. The border skirmishes have resulted in Chinese military fast increasing its troops in areas around Pangong Tso lake and Galwan Valley along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh.
It is not immediately known what will be the proposals that the Indian military will take to the negotiating table but PTI reported that India it will insist on return to status quo in all the areas. The two sides have already held at least 10 rounds of negotiations between local commanders as well as major general-rank officials of the two armies but the talks did not yield any positive result, they said.
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There were also reports that the two sides are also engaged in diplomatic talks to find a solution to the face-off which is turning out to be the most serious military standoff between the two armies after the Doklam episode of 2017. "We are expecting that the Chinese side will also bring to table specific workable suggestion to ease tension," said a senior military official, reported PTI.
The Chinese Army has reportedly deployed around 2,500 troops in Pangong Tso and Galwan Valley besides gradually enhancing temporary infrastructure and weaponry. Both the Indian and the Chinese Army have been gradually ramping up their strategic reserves along the LAC by rushing in artillery guns, infantry combat vehicles and heavy military equipment.
-Inputs from PTI
