India, China To Hold 5th Round Of Corps Commander Level Talks Today, Main Focus On Disengagement In Finger Area

India and China are set to hold the fifth round of Corps Commander level military talks between the two sides on Sunday (August 2nd). Sources said that the 5th round of military-level talks will be held in Moldo on the Chinese side. The main agenda of the meeting is to discuss the situation on Pangong Tso lake. The Indian side will focus on complete disengagement by China in the Finger area.

India and China have held a series of talks since the clash that took place between Indian and Chinese troops on the night of 15/16 June at Galwan area killed 20 Indian soldiers along with an unidentified number of troops of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

Earlier reports came that the disengagement of Indian and Chinese troops at Galwan Valley, PP-15, 14, and 17A in eastern Ladakh was completed. After several rounds of military talks, the Chinese didn't complete the process of disengagement. Chinese troops are still present in the Depsang Plains area, Gogra and the Fingers area along the Pangong River, where India and China started to disengage by establishing a buffer zone between the two sides.

The four previous rounds of meetings between Leh-based 14 Corps' Commander Lieutenant Harinder Singh and Major General Liu Lin, Head of the Southern Xinjiang Military District, were held on June 6, 22, 30, and 14.

The Chinese have been raising their strength by sending additional boats to the tension areas of Pangong Lake and setting up new huts to host more troops, just as disengagement begins.

The new satellite images captured on July 29 show 13 boats and 40 special huts to accommodate troops. According to the latest reports, new trenches and tents have also come up.

The latest round of talks come in the wake of claims that China is not de-escalating the situation along the LAC and also deployed 40,000 troops in the Eastern Ladakh region. This prompted the Indian Army to send a similar number of troops to counter the Chinese deployment.