New Delhi: Amid growing tensions between India and China, the 14th round of Senior Highest Military Commander Level (SHMCL) talks between the two nations will take place at the Chushul-Moldo meeting point, on the Chinese side today (January 12). The military-level talks aim to resolve the disagreements in the Hot Springs area which is the only new friction point left to be resolved between the two countries, government sources said.
The latest round would see the Indian Army's new 14 'Fire and Fury' Corps Commander Lt Gen Anindya Sengupta representing the country in talks with the Chinese side. He took over formally on 4 January. India and China have been holding talks on the Line of Actual Control in the Eastern Ladakh area to resolve the standoff and 13 rounds have been held so far, which mostly ended in stalemate.
The 13th round of talks had taken place on October 10, 2021, and they ended in a stalemate. Both sides failed to make any headway in the talks with the Indian Army saying after the dialogue that the "constructive suggestions" made by it were neither agreeable to the Chinese side nor could provide any "forward-looking" proposals.
In their virtual diplomatic talks on November 18, India and China agreed to hold the 14th round of military talks at an early date to achieve the objective of complete disengagement in remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh.
The two sides are looking at the resolution of the Hot Springs friction point which emerged after the Chinese aggression last year. The friction points on the banks of the Pangong lake and Gogra heights have been resolved but Hot Springs remains to be addressed, the sources said.