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.
India has also been demanding the resolution of the DBO area and CNN junction area which have been there before the April-May timeframe last year and are considered to be legacy issues.
India responded very aggressively to Chinese aggression and checked their actions at multiple locations. India has been working towards establishing peace in the area but has also maintained a high level of preparedness to thwart any misadventure by the enemy troops.
The eastern Ladakh border standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas.
India has also made rapid developments in terms of roads and habitats for troops and sources estimated that India can easily manage over 2 lakh soldiers in the area in extreme winters in case such a large number of troops are required to be there. Each side currently has around 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the sensitive sector.
Meanwhile, the United States also said that it is closely monitoring the Indo-China border dispute, informed White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Monday (local time), adding that the US is "concerned" by China's attempt to intimidate its neighbours.
READ: US closely monitoring Indo-China border dispute, concerned by Beijing's behaviour: White House
