New Delhi: Amid the escalating tension between India and China particularly after the Galwan Valley violent clash on the night of June 15, corps commanders of the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA are meeting on the Chinese side of the border at Moldo in eastern Ladakh, across India’s Chushul point.
This is the second such meeting after the first one on June 6 happened to defuse the tensions.
The meeting between 14 Corps commander Lieutenant General Harinder Singh and South Xinjiang Military District chief Major General Liu Lin is happening on the lines of the one they held at the Chushul-Moldo border personnel meeting (BPM) point in eastern Ladakh on June 6.
The meeting, which began at about 11:30 AM is expected to deliberate on four key points.
The Galwan Valley clash which has claimed the lives of many soldiers on both sides will figure at the top of the agenda. While a lot of information about the encounter between the two sides is still in the realm of speculation, including reports of soldiers being held in captivity, a positive dimension was the fact that both sides offered medical treatment to the injured in the best spirit of martial tradition.
How the PLA violated the agreed terms arrived between commanders in a June 6 meeting at Moldo and raised temporary structures at Patrol Point 14 (PP 14) on the Indian side of Galwan Valley which led to the brutally violent brawl would also be on the agenda.
The commanders will also talk about how to undertake de-escalatory measures in the backdrop of the huge and unprecedented mobilization of men and material including heavy guns in the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de facto border between India and China.
Importantly, another key concern that would be addressed relates to the Finger 4 area in the northern bank of the Pangong lake in Ladakh.
The PLA has stepped up its presence in a very big way in the Finger 4 area across the Indian posts with sheds and semi-permanent structures being set up even as heavy vehicles and artillery guns have taken positions.
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