India and China are set to hold the 14th round of Corps Commander talks on January 12, when they will attempt to take forward the stalled process of disengagement and de-escalation in eastern Ladakh.
The next round of senior military talks are scheduled to be held on January 12, two government sources independently confirmed on Friday.
The Indian delegation for the talks will be led this time by Lieutenant General Anindya Sengupta, who took over as the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Leh-based 14 Corps early this week. He was part of the talks in the previous round as well.
The 13th round of talks held in October 2021 ended in a stalemate and since then, China had not confirmed the dates for the next round, officials said. After the 13th round, each side blamed the other for the breakdown with the Army stating that the Indian side made “constructive suggestions” for resolving the “remaining areas”, while the Chinese military in a statement said that India had made “unreasonable and unrealistic demands”.
Meanwhile, China has gone ahead with massive construction of infrastructure and habitat across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on its side, the latest being a bridge across the Pangong Tso , reducing the distance for movement between the lake’s north and south banks.
Since the stand-off began in May 2020, the two sides have held a series of talks at different levels — political, diplomatic and military — and as part of the agreements reached, undertook disengagement from both sides of Pangong Tso in February 2021 , and from Patrolling Point 17 in the Gogra area in August, in addition to Galwan. The other areas yet to be resolved are Hot Springs, Demchok and Depsang.
India has been insisting on comprehensive disengagement and de-escalation of the situation in eastern Ladakh, while China has been reluctant to discuss Depsang and Demchok, maintaining that they are not a part of the current stand-off, officials stated.
