India, China to stop sending more troops to Ladakh frontline

New Delhi, Sep 22: Senior commanders of the Indian and Chinese military held sixth round of talks on September 21 where they had a "candid and in-depth exchanges of views" on stabilising the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and decided to stop sending more troops to the frontline in eastern Ladakh.

"They agreed to implement consensus reached by the leaders, strengthen communication on ground, avoid misunderstandings, stop sending more troops to frontline, refrain from unilaterally changing situation on ground and avoid any action that may complicate situation," said a Joint statement.

"The two sides also agreed to hold the 7th round of Military Commander-Level Meeting as soon as possible, take practical measures to properly solve problems on the ground, and jointly safeguard peace and tranquillity in the border area," it added.

Both sides talked hard and to avoid kinetic operations and look for a solution. However both India and China remain deployed at the Line of Actual Control. While both sides adopted a hard line in negotiations, there has been no breakthrough after the marathon meeting.

During the meeting, India reiterated that it expects a complete disengagement by China at the friction points. The meeting between delegations headed by 14 Corps Commander, Lt. General Harinder Singh and South Xinjiang Military District Chief, Major General Liu Lin began at 9.30 am.

For the first time, the Indian delegation comprised an official of the Ministry of External Affairs. Those part of the delegation also included Naveen Srivastava, MEA, Joint Secretary (East Asia) and Lt. General P K Menon, who will replace Lt General Singh as the 14 Corps Commander next month.

India told China to disengage from Pangong Tso, Chushul and Gogra Hot Springs. Further India also sought for the finalisation of a roadmap for Des-escalation along the entire frontier in Eastern Ladakh.

India said that it would reciprocate the action, once China makes the first move. India wants China to make the first move as the latter created the face-off.

Further the Indian side made it clear that if China does not make any move, then our troops are prepared for a long haul. The talks were held in Moldo on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control.

The commanders sat across the table after a gap of one and half months to discuss the situation at the border. The talks were held to explore ways to defuse tensions in eastern Ladakh.

The main focus of the meeting was on the implementation of a five-point agreement reached between the two countries.

Both sides reached the agreement to resolve the border row at a meeting between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO) meet in Moscow on September 10.