India wants early disengagement of the Chinese troops from the Line of Actual Control for peace and tranquility in the border areas

India and China are holding the seventh round of corps commander-level talks on Monday at Chushul in Eastern Ladakh, where both sides are in a standoff position since early May.

The Indian side represented by outgoing 14 Corps Chief Lt Gen Harinder Singh and his successor Lt Gen PGK Menon at the talks, is pitching high for complete disengagement of troops from the Line of Actual Control for peace and tranquility in the border areas.

The Indian side is strict on its demand for complete de- escalation and disengagement from the area where they have been in a stand-off position for over five months now. India wants the Chinese side to go back to Finger 8 in the North Bank of Pangong Tso area.

The situation in eastern Ladakh deteriorated after China unsuccessfully attempted to occupy Indian territory in the southern bank of Pangong Lake on the intervening night of August 29 and 30.

The sixth round of Corps Commander level talks were held in September and focused on the ways to defuse rising tensions along with the treacherous and high-altitude friction points in eastern Ladakh considering the approaching harsh winter.

Both sides had agreed to continue talking to each other on the ground and keep lines of communication open to avoid aggregation of the situation.

Since the Galwan Valley faceoff, India and China have held several rounds of discussions to resolve border tension.

On September 10, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held discussions with Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi in Moscow on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s ministerial meet.

A week before Jaishankar’s meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh had met his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe in Moscow, and there too the Indian side had pushed for an early resolution of the ongoing tensions along the LAC.