India, China Holds Fifth Round Of Commander

Indian and Chinese military commanders on Sunday met in eastern Ladakh to discuss the next stage of disengagement. About Line of Actual Control (LAC), near Pangong Tso. Also Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s reluctance to evacuate positions held by it in what India claims to be Indian territory.

The Finger Area — a set of eight cliffs jutting out of the Sirijap range overlooking the Pangong Lake — has emerged as the hardest part of the disengagement process with little hope of immediate resolution, said one of the officials cited above.

This fifth round talks about negotiations between corps commander-ranked officers.

Notably, this round of military negotiations came just three days after Chinese ambassador Sun Weidong said his country’s traditional boundary line on the northern bank of the Pangong Lake was in accordance with the LAC and there was no case of Beijing expanding its territorial claim.

''The ambassador’s contention was a clear indication of the Chinese hard line on its claims in the Finger Area'', said a second official.Before the PLA grabbed positions on Finger Four overlooking Indian deployments, the Indian Army would patrol right up to Finger Eight that New Delhi considers within Indian territory. The new positions held by the PLA have curtailed the scope of Indian patrols. Fingers Four and Eight are eight kilometres apart.

“It is becoming increasingly evident that breaking the Finger Area deadlock may require diplomatic intervention,” said the second official.

Meanwhile Indian claim line in this sector extends to Finger Eight, while the Chinese claim is up to Finger Four where the PLA has set up permanent bunkers, pillboxes, observation posts and tented camps over the last three months.

“The new constructions by the PLA in the Finger Area and its deployments there show there is an element of permanence in their claims to the area. That coupled with the Chinese ambassador’s statement is an indication that the PLA is inclined to hold its positions on the north bank of Pangong Tso,” said former Northern Army commander Lieutenant General (retd) DS Hooda.