We understand that India and China held their 20th round of talks at the Corps Commander level to try to ease tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, but no quick answer was found. According to people in the defense and security establishment, this means that soldiers from both sides will stay in forward areas along the LAC for the fourth winter in a row.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Wednesday, “The 20th round of India-China Corps Commander Level Meeting was held at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Indian side on October 9th and 10th, 2023.”
Though China put out a message, it didn’t say that it was a joint statement, so there was no official word from the Army. Even when a group of people make a message together, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is always the one who puts it out.
The two sides talked about their concerns in an honest, open, and helpful way so that the remaining problems along the LAC in the Western Sector could be solved quickly and to everyone’s satisfaction. This was done in line with the instructions given by the leaders of both countries and built on the progress made at the previous meeting of Corps Commanders on August 13–14, 2023, according to the MEA.
“Momentum of dialogue and negotiations through the relevant military and diplomatic mechanisms” was also agreed upon by both sides.
An additional short statement said, “They also promised to keep the border areas peaceful and quiet in the meantime.”
The Indian group was led by Lt Gen Rashim Bali, who was in charge of the 14 Corps based in Leh. The Chinese group was to be led by the commander of the South Xinjiang military area.
On August 15 that the rare two-day military talks between India and China (19th round) did not make any progress on the important issue of China’s presence in the Depsang Plains, but that both sides had decided to stop building up even more.
Even though they are no longer involved in the Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso, Gogra (PP-17A), and Hot Springs (PP-15), both countries’ armies are still keeping thousands of troops and weapons along the LAC.
India has been trying to get things back to normal as of April 2020 in places where there were problems starting in May 2020. They also want to settle old disagreements, like the ones over the Depsang Plains.
