After China reluctant to move back from Pangong Tso and Patrolling Point 17A across LAC, another round of Commander level talk is being expected over the disengagement of troops.
The Ministry of External Affairs has also hinted in the direction saying that , “another meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affaris (WMCC) is also expected to be scheduled soon”.
In May, Chinese troops had came up to Finger 4 on the Pangong Tso, but after the commander level talks they vacated the base area at the Finger 4 and headed towards Finger 5. Although, PLA continues to occupy positions on ridgeline at Finger 4.
Also, no change of status has taken place at PP 17A and around 50 troops from each side are within a kilometre of each other.
Although, it is expected that at PP 15 in Hot Springs, Chinese army will pullback, no such development has been reported till now.
In a good news, at PP 14 in Galwan Valley, where 20 Indian Army personnel were martyred, Chinese troops have moved back to their side of the LAC.
On Thursday, Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, said: “As conveyed earlier, respecting and strictly abiding by the LAC is the basis of peace and tranquility in the border areas. Several agreements concluded by India and China since 1993 firmly acknowledge this. In my statement of June 26th, I had noted that the conduct of Chinese forces this year, including the deployment of large body of troops and changes in behaviour, accompanied by unjustified and untenable claims, has been in complete disregard of all the mutual agreements.”
“We have also made it clear that India is fully committed to observing and respecting the LAC and that we will not accept any unilateral attempts to change the status quo along the LAC.”
“The two sides have agreed during the conversation of the Special Representatives to work towards complete disengagement of the troops along the LAC and de-escalation from India-China border areas for full restoration of peace and tranquility,” he said.
“Both sides are engaged in discussions through the established diplomatic and military channels to achieve this objective expeditiously. I had informed last week that the 4th round of the meeting of the Senior Commanders was held on 14th July, where they also discussed further steps to ensure complete disengagement. In this context, another meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) is also expected to be scheduled soon,” Srivastava said.
