Corps Commander level talks continue even after 11 hours, outcome caught in wrangles

Arun Joshi 
Tribune News Service
Jammu, July 14

Corps Commander level talks between India and China to expeditiously end the standoff in eastern Ladakh on Tuesday did not conclude even after more than 11-hour long deliberations that centered around about the progress on the withdrawal of troops to their respective positions.

The two sides continued to contest each other’s version on troop withdrawal and refuted some of the claims that the two sides had made to assert their sovereign position in what is known as “disputed” and undefined perception of LAC.

This was the fourth-round of talks between XIV Corps Commander Lt. Gen. Harinder Singh, whose troops guard LAC along with ITBP in Ladakh, and his Chinese counterpart Major General Liu Lin to find out an early and everlasting solution to the face-off that had started with fisticuffs on May 5, and then assumed a deadly shape in Galwan Valley on June 16. Twenty Indian soldiers, including a commanding officer, were killed, while Chinese are quiet about the number of casualties.

Picking up threads from their last meeting on June 30 in which, according to Chinese foreign ministry,  a consensus to  resolve the issues amicably  was reached, The China, however, had continued to accuse India of engineering the Galwan Valley clash. Things were smoothened on July 5 when the special representatives on border question , National Security Advisor  Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign minister held a video-conference dialogue, in which the two sides agreed to withdraw the troops to maintain “peace and tranquillity” on the borders.

A week after the withdrawal process started, the Indian and Chinese sides exchanged their notes about the withdrawal and the positions where they were stationed. It was not a buffer zone but an arrangement that has to be stretched further to the mutual satisfaction of both the sides.

The areas that were under scanner on both sides were Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso, Hot Springs  where the standoff position has not diluted much  and the need was felt that there should be early progress to ease the tensions.