Indian and Chinese Corps Commanders are scheduled to hold the 7th round of military talks on Monday where India will again press China to disengage from all friction points in Ladakh and restore the status quo of April 2020.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh, foreign affairs minister S. Jaishankar, national security advisor Ajit Doval and Army Chief General M.M. Naravane among others are part of this crucial group.
Last week, the high-powered China Study Group had discussed the agenda for the 7th round of Corps Commanders level meeting on the five month old stand-off between the two armies in eastern Ladakh.
Monday’s will be the last meeting under 14 Corps Commander Lt. Gen. Harinder Singh who is all set to take charge as commandant of the Indian Military Academy (IMA) later this month after completing his one-year tenure.
Lt. Gen. P.G.K. Menon, who will be the new 14 Corps Commander, will also take part in the meeting. A representative from the ministry of external affairs, joint secretary (East Asia) Naveen Srivastava, is also expected to attend the Corps Commanders meeting.
At the last Corps Commanders meeting both sides agreed to stop sending more troops to the frontline, refrain from unilaterally changing the situation on the ground, and avoid taking any action that may complicate the situation.
Since the 6th Corps Commanders meeting a kind of uneasy peace has been maintained at LAC in Ladakh which had witnessed a number of firing incidents for the first time in over four decades. Both sides are prepared to keep their armies at these high altitude mountains during winters when temperatures dip below zero degrees and bone-chilling winds make survival extremely difficult.
However, there is also a concern that if Chinese troops don’t move out soon or are not pushed out from places where they have transgressed they may permanently change the alignment of the LAC.
