Depsang to feature in next round of India-China talks

New Delhi, Feb 12: India will raise the issue of disengagement at the Depsang area in the next round of military commander level talks with China.

This would come after both sides agreed to disengage at the north and south banks of the Pangong Lake. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had made a statement to this effect in both Houses of Parliament on Thursday.

While Singh spoke about the disengagement at Pangong Tso, officials say that during the next round of talks with China, the Depsang Plains would be on the talks table.

In a surprise move, the Chinese PLA had withdrawn over 200 main battle tanks from the south banks of the Pangong Tso. The PLA also positioned no less than 100 heavy vehicles to ferry its troops from fingers of the north banks to Srijap sector, east of Finger 8.

Following an agreement reached between India and China, the disengagement at Pangong Lake began at 9 am on Wednesday. This is thanks to several back channel talks held by the military commanders, External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval with their counterparts in Beijing. Officials tell OneIndia that this has been achieved after the back-channel talks by India's top national security planners and also the fact that India stood its ground.

Officials also said that once the disengagement is complete at Pangong Tso, talks would be initiated about the withdrawal from patrolling point 15 and 17 ie Gogra and Hot Springs respectively.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in the Rajya Sabha that the Armed Forces had responded to the challenges posed by the unilateral Chinese action and have shown valour and courage on both South and North bank of Pangong Tso.

The statement in the Upper House was made a day after China said that both the armies would disengage from the north and south banks of Pangong Tso.

The statement by the Defence Minister signals that the are clear signs of tensions being eased in Eastern Ladakh.

Many strategically important points were identified and our troops positioned themselves at those Hill Tops and at locations which were very important from our point of view. It is because of this great bravery of our Armed Forces in the face of harsh adverse climatic conditions that we maintained the edge. Our Armed Forces proved yet again that territorial integrity of our country remains safe in their hands and their grit and determination to safeguard our borders is unwavering, the Defence Minister said.