‘Six round of talks focused to defuse border tensions’

New Delhi: The sixth round of marathon military talks between India and China focused on ways to defuse rising tensions along the treacherous and high-altitude friction points in eastern Ladakh in line with their recent agreement and considering the approaching harsh winter, government sources said here on Tuesday.
There was no official word on the outcome of Monday’s talks in eastern Ladakh that lasted 14 hours but it is learnt both sides agreed to meet again to take forward the negotiations on the “intricate and complex” disengagement process.
The sources said the Chinese side insisted on withdrawal of Indian troops from the strategic heights around the southern bank of Pangong lake but the Indian delegation clearly conveyed that China’s PLA first vacate the areas from Finger 4 to Finger 8. The mountain spurs in the area are referred to as Fingers.
A common assessment that emerged at the meeting was there should not be any further escalation in tensions as the situation had deteriorated in the Chushul sector following three incidents of shots being fired in the air by the Chinese troops in the last three weeks, the sources said.
The sources said there was a shared view that disengagement of troops was necessary to bring down the tensions and both sides should continue the diplomatic and military talks to finalise the broad contours.
At the talks, the Indian side pressed for an early and complete disengagement of Chinese troops from all the friction points and insisted it was for China to take the first steps to de-escalate the situation, government sources said. “The focus was to defuse tensions,” a source said.
The Indian side conveyed its position as the two delegations extensively deliberated on implementing the five-point agreement reached between India and China on September 10 to ease the border standoff that began in early May.
It is learnt that the Indian delegation also insisted on a time-bound implementation of the agreement finalised during the extensive talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Moscow on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meet.
The sources said the agenda for the Monday talks was to chart a specific timeline for implementation of the five-point agreement. (PTI)