Next round of Indo-China talks to focus on Depsang, entire Eastern Ladakh region

New Delhi, Jan 27: During the military commander level talks between India and China held on Sunday, China's proposal on troop withdrawal was rejected and India insisted that the disengagement should be simultaneous and step-by-step.

India also said that it would not agree to the proposal by the Chinese that their troops would withdraw to Finger 8 on the north bank of Pangong Tso after the Indian troops withdraw from the south bank of the lake. India also proposed that during the next meeting discussions must be held on the withdrawal by Chinese troops from Depsang Plains.

Sources tell OneIndia that the next round of talks will focus on Depsang and also the whole of eastern Ladakh. The discussions so far have been around the Pangong Tso, where the situation is very tense.

The eighth and last round of the talks had taken place on November 6 during which both sides broadly discussed disengagement of troops from specific friction points.

The seventh round of Corps Commander-level talks had taken place on October 12 where China had pressed for the withdrawal of Indian troops from a number of strategic heights around the southern bank of Pangong lake.

However, India insisted that the disengagement process has to start simultaneously at all the friction points.

Last month, India and China held another round of diplomatic talks under the framework of Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China border affairs. However, no concrete outcome emerged from the meeting.

Following the sixth round of military talks, the two sides had announced a slew of decisions including not to send more troops to the frontline, refrain from unilaterally changing the situation on the ground and avoid taking any actions that may further complicate matters.

This round was held with a specific agenda of exploring ways to implement a five-point agreement reached between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at a meeting in Moscow on September 10 on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO) conclave.

The pact included measures like quick disengagement of troops, avoiding action that could escalate tensions, adherence to all agreements and protocols on border management and steps to restore peace along the LAC.