India-China to hold 8th WMCC meet today: Focus on Finger areas

New Delhi, Aug 20: The Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) will meet today in a bid to find a solution to the border town along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

On whether a meeting of the Corps Commanders will be held after this, a source told OneIndia it would depend on how the WMCC meeting goes. A lot would depend on the outcome of the WMCC and also how the Chinese are inclined, the source also said.

It may be recalled that the seventh meeting of the WMCC was held last month. Both sides had agreed on complete disengagement along the LAC at eastern Ladakh. The talks are headed by the joint secretary-level officials from both sides.

On asked about the possible outcome of the talks, the source cited above said that it appears to be low. However efforts will be made to find a solution, the official also said.

The Chinese have not disengaged in the Finger Area, Depsang Plains and Gogra despite multiple rounds of talks. The Chinese have been camping in the Finger Areas for the past three months and have been constructing bunkers and sangars.

The position that India would continue to maintain firmly is that the Chinese PLA must disengage. The decision was taken following a consultative meeting of top officials from the Army, Defence and External Affairs Ministry.

The inter-ministerial meeting was held ahead of the diplomatic talks through the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) to be held later this week.

It is quite clear that the transgressions that began in May had the approval of the Chinese Central Military Commission headed by Secretary, Xi Jinping. This is because it involved both the Tibetan and Xinjiang district as troops were inducted from outside the Western Theatre Command, an official familiar with the developments told OneIndia.

The official cited above also said that during the talks, China continues to make demands that are clearly not acceptable to India. For instance, they are seeking the removal of an old administrative base in Pangong Tso.