India to demand 'disengagement and de-escalation' by China in talks tomorrow

New Delhi (India), October 11 In the seventh round of Corps Commander-level talks to be held between India and China on Monday, India will continue to demand complete disengagement and de-escalation by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) from the Eastern Ladakh sector.

"India is expected to demand discussion on all the friction points between the two sides from the Sub-sector North to the central sector and complete disengagement and de-escalation by the Chinese Army from there," government sources said here.

The Chinese side has been demanding that such a mechsm should be discussed first for the new friction points along the Northern and Southern bank of the Pangong lake but India wants discussion on the entire area, they said.

Indian forces had taken an aggressive stand and occupied several strategic heights on the southern and northern Pangong lake area preempting Chinese attempts to take them over.

After the meeting of the China Study Group two days ago, the Indian side is likely to be strict on its demand for completed escalation and disengagement from the area where they have been in a stand-off position for last over five months now.

The talks on Monday will be held at the Chushul/Moldo talking hit in Eastern Ladakh where almost 50,000 troops from both sides are in standoff position since April-May this year.

India has a clear stand that the gambit of talks must include disengagement and de-escalation from the entire Eastern Ladakh region for addressing the situation.

The seventh round of talks would be the last one be attended by present corps commander of Fire and Fury Corps Lt Gen Harinder Singh as his successor Lt Gen PGK Menon has already reached Leh to take over the charge.

The transgressions in Eastern Ladakh took place in April-May timeframe while Singh had taken over the Corps in October last year.

The political and military leadership including External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane and Air Force Chief RKS Bhadauria have been involved in tackling the issue of Chinese transgressions.

The core security team led by the NSA has been actively involved in preemptive and thwarting Chinese bids to occupy strategic heights in the southern and northern Pangong lake area.

( With inputs from ANI )