LAC standoff | Corps Commanders’ talks on Tuesday at Chushul

Focus would also be on pullback of the massive troops and equipment along LAC

Mending fences: Indian and Chinese forces at a ceremonial border personnel meeting in Chushul. File

India and China are scheduled to hold the fourth round of Corps Commanders talks at Chushul on Tuesday where details of the second phase of disengagement along the border would be discussed, a defence source said.

The focus of the talks, scheduled around 11.30 hr, would also be on pullback of the massive troops and equipment along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), another source stated.

As in earlier talks, the Tuesday one will be held between 14 Corps commander Lt. Gen. Harinder Singh and Commander of South Xinjiang Military District Maj. Gen. Liu Lin.

Last week, Indian and Chinese troops completed the first phase of disengagement from the stand-off areas in Galwan Valley, Hot Springs and Gogra and a partial disengagement from Pangong Tso, where Chinese troops moved back from the base of Finger 4 to Finger 5. However, Chinese troops are still present on the ridge line of Finger 4.

Ladakh face-off | Satellite images show Chinese activity at Galwan before clash

At each place, Indian troops also moved back a couple of kilometres following a pullback by Chinese troops as per the consensus reached, creating a temporary buffer zone with only a small groups of soldiers left to verify the disengagement.

For instance, at Patrolling Point (PP) 17A, each side has retained around 50 soldiers each and the remaining moved back to permanent positions as part of the agreed disengagement.

The first source said disengagement could be better managed by avoiding contact and added that both sides were relocating troops, and decided to cease patrolling so that troops didn’t clash as tempers were still high. “Trust on both sides continues to be an issue. Troops will get back to original location slowly,” the source said.

The earlier Corps Commander talks were held on June 6, 22 and 30. The consensus for disengagement and de-escalation reached on June 6 was breached with the violent clash in Galwan Valley on June 15, claiming the lives of 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese casualties.