A source in the Indian security system stated that India and China will hold another round of high-level military talks on Saturday, with the goal of advancing the process of disengagement from the remaining difficult points in eastern Ladakh and ending the conflict that has lasted for more than 14 months.
The Twelfth Round Army Commander-level talks are being held at the Moldo border point on the Chinese side of the Line of Control (LAC) on the eastern side of Ladakh, they said. A source said that the talks started at 10:30 am as scheduled. Speaking of the talks, the source said that India expects the closure of Hot Springs and Gogra to achieve positive results.
The last round of dialogue took place after three and a half months. The 11th round of military dialogue was held on April 9 at the Chushul border point on the Indian side of the line of actual control and lasted about 13 hours.
The 12th round of military talks materialized over two weeks after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar firmly conveyed to his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that the extension of the existing situation in eastern Ladakh was visibly affecting the bilateral ties in a “negative manner”.
The two foreign ministers had chaired a one-hour bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Tajik capital city Dushanbe on July 14.
In the meeting, Jaishankar said to Wang that any unilateral change in the existing condition along the LAC was “not acceptable” to India and that the overall ties can only progress after full restoration of peace and harmony in eastern Ladakh. In the last round of military dialogues, both sides discussed measures to take forward the disengagement process in Hot Springs, Gogra and Depsang with a larger aim to decrease tensions in the region. However, there was no forward movement in the disengagement process.
