The third round of Corps Commander-level talks between India and China to discuss and diffuse the tension over the ongoing dispute along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh is scheduled to be held tomorrow at 10:30 am in Chushul, Leh, informed government sources said on Monday.
“Third round of Corps Commander-level talks scheduled tomorrow at 10:30 am in Chushul in Ladakh,” a source told ANI. The first two rounds had taken place in Moldo on the Chinese side of the LAC.
In the second round of Corps Commander-level talks held on June 22, both sides reached a mutual consensus to disengage in the Eastern Ladakh sector, army sources said.
The modalities for disengagement from all friction areas in Eastern Ladakh were discussed and these will be taken forward by both sides, the sources added.
The military commanders from both sides had met initially on June 6 and had agreed to disengage at multiple locations. India had asked the Chinese side to return to pre-May 4 military positions along the LAC.
The Chinese side had not given any response to the specific Indian proposal and not even shown intent on the ground to withdraw troops from rear positions where they had amassed over 10,000 troops.
India and China have been involved in talks to ease the ongoing border tensions since last month. Twenty Indian soldiers lost their lives in a violent face-off in the Galwan Valley on June 15-16 after an attempt by the Chinese troops to unilaterally change the status quo during the de-escalation. Indian intercepts revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead and seriously injured in the face-off.
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Also, the Indian armed forces have deployed their advanced very quick-reaction surface-to-air missile defence systems in the Eastern Ladakh sector.
“As part of the ongoing build-up in the sector, the air defence systems of both Indian Army and the Indian Air Force have been deployed in the sector to prevent any misadventure by the Chinese Air Force fighter jets or the People’s Liberation Army choppers there,” government sources told ANI.
In the last couple of weeks, the Chinese forces also brought in heavy air superiority aircraft like the Sukhoi-30 and its strategic bombers to the rear locations which have been detected flying near the Indian territory maintaining the 10 km plus distance from the boundary.