New Delhi: India and China will hold their 10th round of Corps Commanders-level meeting at Chushul on the Indian side in eastern Ladakh on Saturday to discuss disengagement from other friction points after disengagement from both banks of Pangong Lake in the eastern Ladakh sector.
A source in the in the defence establishment on Friday confirmed that the disengagement process at Pangong Tso areas has been completed and as per the agreement the next level of military meeting is scheduled to place within 48 hours indicating that it will be conducted tomorrow.
The tenth round talks will be covering the issue of disengagement from the areas including Gogra, Hot Springs and Depsang. Though, the Depsang is not a part of the current standoff between the two countries but New Delhi has been pressing for discussion on it since beginning.
The disengagement process at north and south of Pangong Tso was started on February 11 after the two forces were at eyeball to eyeball confrontation for over nine months at multiple locations.
The Armies of the both countries had a long eight months stand off in Eastern Ladakh following a blood skirmish on June 15 in which 20 Indian soldiers, including the Commanding Officer Col Santosh Babu, were martyred.
Also China has for the first time officially admitted that five of the People’s Liberation Army soldiers were killed in the border clash in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh in June last year.
The PLA Daily on Friday identified those killed included Qi Fabao, the regimental commander from the PLA Xinjiang Military Command, Chen Hongjun, Chen Xiangrong, Xiao Siyuan and Wang Zhuoran, the state-run Global Times reported, quoting the Chinese Army’s mouthpiece.
“The Central Military Commission awarded Qi Fabao, the regimental commander from the PLA Xinjiang Military Command, the title of “Heroic regimental commander for defending the border,” Chen Hongjun with “Hero to defend the border,” and awarded first-class merit to Chen Xiangrong, Xiao Siyuan and Wang Zhuoran,” said Global Times.
This is the first time China has unveiled casualties and details of these officers and soldiers, it said.
Global Times quoted Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, as telling that China unveiled the details of the incident to refute previous disinformation that stated China suffered greater casualties than India or China incited the incident.
“New equipment has also been deployed to the regiment since January, including light tanks, and logistic supplies have also been updated to offer firm support to soldiers stationed along the border areas,” it said.
