The six-month-long tension at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) may ease with India and China likely to agree to withdraw their tanks and heavy guns and thin out troops in a phased manner from the stand-off sites.

These agreements may come about in the ninth round of Corps Commander-level talks in the next few days, sources said here on Wednesday. If everything

goes well, the gradual disengagement may commence from mid next month, they added.

Army Chief General MM Naravane had hinted on Tuesday that “We are hopeful we will be able to reach an agreement which is mutually acceptable and mutually beneficial.”

His observations came days after the Corps Commanders of India and China held the eighth round of parleys at Chushul, Ladakh on November 6.

Naravane said the senior military commanders of India and China are “ironing out the modalities” of how to proceed ahead.

“We had the 8th round of talks on November 6 between the highest military commanders on both sides. They are ironing out the modalities of how to proceed ahead within the overarching guidelines which had been communication post the interactions and the meetings between the respective Ministers (defence and foreign),” the Army chief had said.

In this backdrop, sources said India and China may agree to a three-step process on disengagement of troops and withdrawal of weaponry from all major friction points in a time-bound manner.

However, they said these were proposals and no agreement has been inked so far.

The broad contours of the proposal include removal of armoured personnel carriers within one day of inking an agreement, withdrawal of troops from specific areas on the north and south banks of the Pangong Lake in eastern Ladakh and carrying out verification of the disengagement process by both the sides, they said.

The specific proposals for the disengagement and restoration of the status quo ante as existed in April were finalised during the eighth round of high-level military talks, they said.

As a first step, both sides will remove their tanks, artillery guns, armoured vehicles and large equipment from the friction points along the LAC to their rear bases within three days from inking the agreement.

The second step entails the Chinese army will go back to Finger 8 areas from their current position of Finger 4 on the north bank of Pangong lake while the Indian troops would position themselves close to the Dhan Singh Thapa post, sources said. The mountain spurs in the area are referred to as Fingers.  It was broadly agreed to withdraw around 30 per cent of the troops every day for three days, they said.

In the third step, it was agreed to complete the disengagement process in areas along the southern bank of Pangong lake like Rezang La, Mukhpari and Magar hill.

The Indian troops occupied a number of strategic heights in the Mukhpari, Rezang La and Magar hill areas around the southern bank of the Pangong lake, after the PLA soldiers attempted to intimidate them in the area on the intervening night of August 29 and 30.

 In the final phase of the disengagement process, both sides will carry out a detailed verification process following which normal patrolling is expected to resume.

More than one lakh troops from both the sides are now deployed on the 1,700 km long LAC in Eastern Ladakh.  In fact, both the armies are also digging in for a long winter deployment as the multiple round of talks at the military and diplomatic levels have failed so far.

Also, China cannot be trusted as it happened in June when after agreeing to pull back from the stand-off sites they did not honour the commitment.  It led to a bloody brawl in the Galwan valley on June 15 leaving 20 Indian army personnel including the commanding officer dead.

After the last round of military talks, both sides described the negotiations as candid, in-depth and constructive. They said it was agreed to earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries and ensure that the frontline troops exercise restraint and avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation.

At the seventh round of talks too, both sides had agreed to maintain dialogue and communication through military and diplomatic channels to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution for disengagement “as early as possible”.

Following the sixth round of military talks, the two sides announced a slew of decisions including not to send more troops to the frontline, refrain from unilaterally changing the situation on the ground and avoid taking any actions that may further complicate matters.

The sixth round of talks took place days after External Affairs Minister S  Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi reached a five-point agreement to resolve the row at a meeting in Moscow on September 10 on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) conclave.

The pact included measures like quick disengagement of troops, avoiding action that could escalate tensions, adherence to all agreements and protocols on border management and steps to restore peace along the LAC.