India, China holds 19th round of military commander-level talks today

India and China held the next round of military commander-level talks on Monday. The 19th round of Corps Commander level dialogue began at 9.30 am at the Chushul-Moldo border on the Indian side of the Line of Actual control (LAC). The 19th round of talks will be happening around four months after the last edition of the military talks.

The Indian delegation is headed by Lt Gen Rashim Bali, the Commander of the Leh-headquartered 14 Corps. The Chinese team was to be led by the commander of the South Xinjiang military district.

India is likely to press for early disengagement of troops from the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh at a fresh round of high-level military talks with China on August 14, news agency PTI quoted sources as saying.

The Indian delegation are expected "to seek completion of the disengagement process in the remaining friction points at the earliest", said one of the persons cited above.

The Indian and Chinese troops are locked in an over three-year standoff in certain friction points in eastern Ladakh even as the two sides completed disengagement from several areas following extensive diplomatic and military talks.

During the 18th round of the military dialogue, that was held on April 23, the Indian side had strongly pressed for resolving the issues at Depsang and Demchok regions. Moreover, India and China reportedly agreed to maintain security and stability on the ground in the Western Sector of the LAC.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said eralier that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke on the need to stabilise bilateral relations at a dinner during the G-20 summit in Bali last year.

On July 24, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi on the sidelines of a meeting of the five-nation grouping BRICS in Johannesburg.

The standoff between the Indian and the Chinese troops erupted on eastern Ladakh border on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong lake area.

The ties between the two countries nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 - that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.

As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process in 2021 on the north and south banks of the Pangong lake and in the Gogra area.