India to press for early and complete disengagement at today’s military talks

New Delhi: India will press for early and complete disengagement of troops by China from all the friction points in eastern Ladakh at the seventh round of high-level military talks between the two countries on Monday, government sources said.
The talks are slated to begin at 12 noon in Chushul on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, they said. The agenda of the talks will be to firm up a roadmap for disengagement of troops from all the friction points in eastern Ladakh, the sources said.
The China Study Group (CSG), comprising Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and three service chiefs, on Friday finalised India’s strategy for the military talks.
The CSG is India’s key policy-making body on China.
The sources said India will strongly oppose any demand by China for the withdrawal of Indian troops from several strategic heights on the southern bank of the Pangong lake to kick-start the disengagement process.
During the last round of Corps Commander-level talks, the Chinese military insisted on the withdrawal of troops by the Indian Army from several strategic heights in Mukhpari, Rezang La and Magar hill areas around the southern bank of Pangong lake.
Indian troops occupied the strategic heights after the Chinese military attempted to intimidate them in the southern bank of Pangong Lake on the intervening night of August 29 and 30.
India has been maintaining that the disengagement process has to start simultaneously at all the friction points.
“Indian will again press for early and complete disengagement of troops from all the friction points,” said a source, adding that the onus is on the Chinese military to start the process.
At the talks, the two sides are also expected to look into further steps to maintain stability on the ground and avoid any action that may trigger fresh tension in the region where troops from both sides will be facing difficult conditions in the next four months due to harsh winters, the source said.
The Indian delegation at the talks will be led by Lt Gen Harinder Singh, the commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps of the Indian Army, and it will comprise Lt Gen PGK Menon and Joint Secretary (East Asia) in the Ministry of External Affairs Naveen Srivastava among others
Following the sixth round of military talks on September 21, the two sides announced a slew of decisions including not to send more troops to the frontline, refrain from unilaterally changing the situation on the ground and avoid taking any actions that may further complicate matters. (PTI)