India, China gear up to discuss Hot Springs

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 6

A month after Indian and Chinese troops pulled back from friction point PP 17-A, also referred to as Gogra, along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, the two sides are now readying for another round of military talks.

13th round of talks

• Both sides are working on finalising the date of Cdr-level talks
• Pullback will entail increasing distance between troops of 2 sides
• It will be like creating a wider buffer zone to prevent any flare-up

The impasse over another friction point, PP 15, also called Hot Springs, is part of the agenda for the talks, the 13th since June last year. At the last round on July 31, conducted on the Chinese side of Chushul-Moldo meeting point, it was decided that further discussions would be needed on Hot Springs as the LAC claims of both sides “differed and overlapped”.

The disengagement from Gogra was officially completed on August 5 and it was announced in a statement by the Ministry of Defence on August 6. As per the agreement, both sides ceased forward deployments in Gogra area in a phased, coordinated and verified manner. The troops of both sides are now in their respective permanent bases. All temporary structures and other allied infrastructure created in the area by both sides is learnt to have been dismantled and mutually verified. The landform in the area had been restored to pre-standoff period, it is learnt.

The 832-km LAC in Ladakh is undefined on the ground and both sides have claims and counterclaims. Currently, tanks, guns, missile launchers and troops are lined up within striking distance of each other on the Ladakh plateau, which is at an altitude of 14,000 ft.

In the past, China had gone back on agreements it has made since the military standoff started in May 2020, thus no official announcement had so far been made on the pullback, said sources.