LAC stand-off: India, China likely to hold 14th round of corps Commander-level talks on 12 Jan

New Delhi: India and China are likely to hold the 14th round of corps Commander-level talks on 12 January with a focus on making some forward movement in the disengagement process in the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh, people familiar with the development said on Friday. The talks are expected to take place at the Chushul border point on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, they said. The Indian side is expected to press for disengagement as soon as possible in all the remaining friction points including resolution of issues in Depsang Bulge and Demchok. The 13th round of talks had taken place on 10 October and had ended in a stalemate. Both sides failed to make any headway in the talks with the Indian Army saying after the dialogue that the “constructive suggestions” made by it were not agreeable to the Chinese side, which also could not provide any “forward-looking” proposals. In their virtual diplomatic talks on 18 November, India and China agreed to hold the 14th round of military talks at an early date to achieve the objective of complete disengagement in remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh. It is learnt that the Indian side had sent at least two proposals for the 14th round of talks in the last two months but the Chinese side was not responding to them positively so far. The talks are likely to take place on 12 January, said the people cited above. The eastern Ladakh border standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries erupted on 5 May, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas. Both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry. As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process last year in the north and south banks of the Pangong lake and in the Gogra area. Each side currently has around 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the sensitive sector.