India and China are likely to hold the 16th round of Corps Commander level talks on July 17 in an effort to find a way out for early disengagement of troops at some friction points in Eastern Ladakh. The last round of military level talks was held on March 11. The upcoming parleys to be held at a border meeting point at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) comes days after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reviewed the situation at the LAC in Bali, Indonesia.
The talks took place on the sidelines of a meeting of the foreign ministers of G-20 countries on July 7. It was learnt that the eastern Ladakh border row figured in the discussions.
The two ministers are likely to take stock of the situation at the LAC when they meet again on July 28 and 29 in Tashkent for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO)Foreign Ministers’ conclave. The takeaway from the Corps Commander talks is likely to figure prominently in the talks between Jaishankar and Wang Yi, sources said.
As regards the proposed military level talks on July 17, sources said here on Wednesday the two commanders will discuss further disengagement at frictions points along the LAC. The ongoing friction points are Hot Springs, Demchok and Depsang Valley.
India has all along insisted that complete withdrawal of the Chinese troops from the sites is the prerequisite for restoring normal ties between the two countries. New Delhi has also made it clear that status quo has to be restored at the LAC as it existed prior to May 2020.
The sustained dialogue at the military and diplomatic levels in past two years have seen some forward movement with disengagement of soldiers from Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso and Gogra-Hot Springs area.
The last round of diplomatic level talks was held on June one under the aegis of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Co-ordination(WMCC) on India-China border affairs.
Giving details of the latest round of WMCC parleys, officials had said the two sides exchanged views on the current situation along the LAC in the Western Sector in Eastern Ladakh. They agreed that as instructed by the two Foreign Ministers, both sides should continue the discussions through diplomatic and military channels to resolve the remaining issues along the LAC at the earliest so as to create conditions for restoration of normalcy in bilateral relations.
This was the 24th Meeting of the WMCC.