19th round of military talks: India presses for access to all old patrolling points along the LAC

As per sources, it was discussed that various confidence building measures would be continued to reduce trust deficit between both sides. “Till a decision on providing complete access to old patrolling points along the LAC is arrived at, the sanctity of buffer zones would be maintained and the finer details on limit of patrolling in these areas would be worked out,” a defence source said.

Continuing regular interaction at battalion levels and avoiding any violation by drones were the other aspects up for discussion at the meeting, the sources added.

The meeting began at 9.30 am Monday morning and went on for eight hours to end at 5.30pm in the evening. The meeting took place at the Indian side of the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point. The Indian delegation was led by 14 Corps Commander Lt Gen Rashim Bali.

The last round of talks was held on April 23 ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ meeting.

The meeting comes just about a week before the BRICS leaders’ summit which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Africa will be attending. Chinese President Xi is also scheduled to visit India for the G20 summit on September 9 and 10 this year.

There has been no definitive forward movement in the last few rounds of military talks on resolution of legacy issues or an overall de-escalation of troops in eastern Ladakh.

In September last year, both sides pulled back troops to disengage from Patrolling Point-15 in the Gogra-Hot Springs area of Eastern Ladakh, marking a step forward in the military standoff between the two sides which began in May 2020.

Friction points such as Galwan Valley, north and south banks of Pangong Tso and the Gogra-Hot Springs area have seen some resolution in the last three years with the creation of buffer zones.

However, 50,000-60,000 troops remain deployed on both sides of the India-China border.