India to push for troop withdrawal in Ladakh as India, China meet today

Solving the border issue through dialogue seems to be the stand which both sides India and China have taken to resolve the bitter differences in eastern Ladakh by holding a dialogue on Saturday.

The Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a bitter military standoff in at least four sensitive areas in eastern Ladakh following the violent clashes between them in Pangong Tso on May 5 and 6. The two sides resorted to massive build-up and have been on an eyeball-to-eyeball situation in Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso, Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldi.

Since multiple meetings between local commanders did not succeed in defusing tensions, the two militaries have decided to hold Corp commander-level talks.

The talks, slated to be held around 8 am in the Border Personnel Meeting Point at Maldo in the Chushul sector of eastern Ladakh, will be led by Corp commander-level officers from both armies.

Major General Liu Lin, the commander of the Southern Xinjiang Military District, will represent the People’s Liberation Army. The Indian delegation at the talks is likely to be headed by a Corp commander-level officer.

The Corp commander-level talks come a day after the two countries vowed not to allow “differences” to become disputes and agreed to resolve them through talks.

The two countries on Friday held diplomatic talks with an aim to resolve the standoff and agreed to handle the issue through peaceful discussions while respecting each other’s sensitivities, concerns and aspirations.

In the talks, the two sides agreed to settle differences in accordance with guidance provided by the leadership of two countries, in a reference to decisions taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at an informal summit in the Chinese city of Wuhan in 2018.