India insists on Chinese pullback, but higher level of diplomatic talks would be needed

New Delhi, Aug 03: India has insisted on early and complete disengagement of the Chinese army soldiers from the new areas occupied on the bank of the Pangong Tso.

During the fifth round of military level commander talks held on Sunday, India said that the Chinese PLA should disengage at the Gogra areas as well. Further, it was also told to the Chinese to pullback from the Depsang Plains in Eastern Ladakh.

While no official word was made available, sources told OneIndia that the talks went late into the night on Sunday. The meeting began at 11 am on Sunday.

The talks were held in the midst of the Chinese refusing to disengage fully on the north bank of Pangong Tso as well as Patrolling Point 17-A at Gogra. The PLA has been refusing to adhere to the disengagement process which was finalised during the fourth round of military talks that was held on July 14. The official cited above said that this may call for higher level of diplomatic talks between the two countries.

Meanwhile, a battalion of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army has been mobilised at the Lipulekh Pass near Uttarakhand. Around 1,000 PLA soldiers have been moved at some distance from the border.

Troops have been witnessed here over the past few weeks outside the Ladakh sector, where India and China have been engaged in a standoff since May.

However there has been a build up of forces across the Line of Actual Control at Lipukekh Pass, top officials told OneIndia. There has been also been an increase of troops along the LAC in parts of North Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

Lipulekh Pass has been in the news after Nepal objected to an 80-kilometre road which was built by India to the Himalayan Pass. It may be recalled that Nepal had escalated tensions with India and even redrawn its political map to add the Kalapani area and Lipulekh Pass. It has claimed that these areas which lie close to the tri-junction of India, China and Nepal as its own. India has however matched the strength of the Chinese and is also keeping a very close watch on Nepal in this connection.