Ladakh disengagement: India-China talks last for 16 hours

In continuation with the dialogue held to resolve situation in Ladakh, 10th round of military talks between India and China last for around 16 hours on Sunday. The Corps Commander-level talks at the Moldo border point on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control began at around 10 am on Saturday and ended at 2 am on Sunday, they said.

PTI quoted sources to say that focus of the talks was to take the disengagement process ahead in friction points like Hot Springs, Gogra and Depsang in eastern Ladakh. It has been reported that India insisted on a faster disengagement process.

However, there was no official word on the talks so far.

This round of talks took place two days after Indian and Chinese military concluded withdrawal of troops and weapons from north and south banks of Panging Tso.

On Saturday evening, sources had said that bringing down the tension in the region was the broad priority of the talks. India has all along been maintaining that disengagement at all the friction points was necessary to de-escalate the situation in the region.

On February 11, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced in Parliament that India and China reached an agreement on disengagement in the North and South banks of Pangong lake that mandates both sides to "cease" forward deployment of troops in a "phased, coordinated and verifiable" manner.

Under the agreement, he said China will pull back its troops to east of Finger 8 areas in the northern bank of Pangong lake while the Indian personnel will be based at their permanent base at Dhan Singh Thapa Post near Finger 3 in the region. Similar action would take place on the south bank of the lake as well, he said.

The sources said troops of both sides have retreated to positions in line with the agreement.

The disengagement process began on February 10.

Indian delegation was led by Lt Gen PGK Menon, the Commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps.

The border standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries erupted on May 5 following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas and both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry even as the two sides continued military and diplomatic talks.

Last year, the Chinese military built several bunkers and other structures in the areas between Finger 4 and 8 and had blocked all Indian patrols beyond Finger 4, triggering strong reaction from the Indian Army.

In the nine rounds of military talks, India had specifically insisted on withdrawal of Chinese troops from Finger 4 to Finger 8 on the North bank of Pangong Lake. The mountain spurs in the area are referred to as Fingers.

(With PTI Inputs)