India made a renewed push for China to complete troop disengagement in Pangong Tso and Gogra areas as well as pullback from the Depsang Plains in eastern Ladakh during top-level military talks between the two countries on Sunday. There was no official word on the outcome of the fifth round of talks between 14 Corps commander Lt-General Harinder Singh and South Xinjiang Military District chief Major General Liu Lin, which began after 11 am and continued till late in the night on the Chinese side of the Chushul-Moldo border personnel meeting point.
The talks were held amidst the continuing Chinese refusal to even disengage fully on the north bank of Pangong Tso as well as Patrolling Point (PP)-17A in Gogra, let alone begin de-escalation and eventual de-induction of the over 30,000 troops each amassed by both sides along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.
Consequently, India’s quest for restoration of status quo as it existed in April is still nowhere on the horizon. “The military talks seem to be going nowhere, with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) refusing to fully adhere to the disengagement process finalised during the fourth round of talks on July 14. Higher political-diplomatic intervention may be needed,” an official said.
The PLA has been particularly adamant about not withdrawing eastwards from the 8-km stretch it has occupied from ‘Finger-4’ to ‘Finger-8’ (mountainous spurs jutting into the lake) after building scores of new fortifications and gun positions on the north bank of Pangong Tso since early May.
India contends the PLA, which initially withdrew from the ‘base’ of Finger-4 but did not vacate the ridgeline there, must pull back all the way to ‘Finger-8’ since the LAC runs north to south there. But Chinese ambassador to India Sun Weidong openly rejected this just four days ago, claiming "China’s traditional customary boundary line is in accordance with the LAC” on the north bank of the lake. India had earlier not insisted on holding the corps commander-level dialogue on July 30, as was initially proposed, due to lack of concrete progress on the ground despite several rounds of military and diplomatic talks. But the PLA called for the meeting late on Saturday evening to set the stage for the talks on Sunday.
Disengagement incomplete, says India
After China claimed earlier this week that disengagement along the LAC had been completed at most locations, India said while there had been some progress, the process had "as yet not been completed". Responding to queries on remarks by the Chinese foreign ministry, the ministry of external affairs said senior commanders of the two sides will meet in the near future to work out steps for further disengagement. Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the government expected China to sincerely work with India for complete disengagement and de-escalation at the earliest as agreed to by special representatives Ajit Doval and Wang Yi.
"As we have stated earlier, the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas is the basis of our bilateral relationship," said the official.
Disengagement, according to sources here, has been far from complete at least in the Pangong Tso and Depsang areas from where the Chinese troops are apparently reluctant to move back. This was one of the main reasons why India, in the last round of diplomatic talks, had insisted on early and complete disengagement.
"As border troops have disengaged in most localities, the situation on the ground is deescalating and the temperature is coming down," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin had said in Beijing.
