Amidst the ongoing standoff between the Indian and Chinese forces, the 18th round of Corps Commander Talks took place at Moldo on the Indian side in eastern Ladakh on Sunday (April 23, 2023). The talks carried on late night and issues related to disengagement from Demchok and Depsang Plains were on the agenda. The troops of the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA have been locked in a standoff since April-May 2020.

The talks took place ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers Meeting later this week in New Delhi from April 27-28. And as has been reported earlier China’s Defence Minister Li Shangfu is expected to be present physically to attend it.

What was the focus of the meeting?

According to sources in the defence and security establishment the focus of the meeting which carried on late night was on disengagement from Demchok and Depsang Plains. The 17th round of talks had taken place in December 2022 and had remained inconclusive on these two critical issues that India has been pushing to resolve in eastern Ladakh.

The Indian side was led by Lt General Rashim Bali, who had recently taken over as the Leh-based 14 Corps Commander.

The two sides, according to sources, focused on the resolution to the three year long standoff. According to reports, to ease off the ongoing standoff, India has suggested to China a three step process and this includes firstly the disengagement of troops which are close to the grey zones along the LAC. It has urged the Chinese side to get back to the April 2020 positions.

The other two steps of in-induction and de-escalation — would require pulling back not only troops but equipment too to the pre-April 2020.  And until these are agreed upon and executed it cannot be business as usual.

Significance of this meeting: India holds G20 and SCO Presidency

This round is taking place at a time when India is set to hold the SCO Summit in July and later in September it will host the G20 Summit where Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to be present.

Last Week

At the Army Commanders Conference, defence minister Rajnath Singh had stated that talks for peaceful resolution of the stand-off in eastern Ladakh will continue. He also said that de-escalation and disengagement is the best way forward.

So far …

It has been reported by Financial Express Online earlier following the violent Galwan Clash back in 2020,  so far 17 rounds of talks of disengagement at the Corps Commander level have taken place and these include — February 2021Pangong Tso, in August Patrolling Point (PP) 17 in the Gogra-Hot Springs area; in early November PP15.  

While India maintains friction points at Demchok and Depsang remain, China on the other hand has refused each time to accept this and has termed them as legacy issues predating the 2020 stand-off.

Stable but Unpredictable

The Indian Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande has stated earlier that five out of seven friction points have been resolved and the focus is now on the remaining two friction points –Demchok and Depsang.  He termed the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) as “stable but unpredictable.’’

In the eastern Ladakh sector, India shares an 832-km-long LAC with China. And several thousands of troops, fighter jets, long range-artillery, hundreds of guns, tanks, missiles, have been deployed by both sides on either side of the LAC. 

In the three years since the standoff the Chinese side has tried to alter the ground status and has undertaken massive construction of infrastructure, habitat and also support structures for maintaining troops near LAC.

India has repeatedly called for the restoration of status quo ante along the LAC and has stated that the relationship cannot go back to normal as long as the standoff continues.

The Chinese PLA has deliberately blocked Indian patrols in Depsang. It has been reported earlier that prior to April 2020, Indian troops used the patrolling route, which has now been blocked by the Chinese side who have stationed vehicles along the designated patrolling route.

Another major issue is the ongoing moratorium on patrolling in the grey zone of the LAC. This is the area where both sides have claims and patrolling will need to start.

Expert View

Relations between India and China have further strained since then. China continues increasing its belligerence with every passing day with special focus on Arunachal Pradesh.

“Geo-political landscape is changing in a big way and that too in India’s favour. The G20 and SCO presidency have given India a golden opportunity and India is leveraging these quite well.

China has its own growing challenges in the Indo-Pacific and may not like to open an immediate front with India but it cannot be predicted with certainty,” Maj Gen Ashok Kumar, VSM (Retd), tells Financial Express Online.

In his opinion, the 18th round of Corps Cdr Conference held on 23 Apr 23 should have some positive development given the incidence of forthcoming SCO visit and some progress may be expected towards resolution of Depsang and Demchok issues. “Though it will be expecting too much from the Chinese side but possibility of reduction of troops may be under discussion. Though the extent of agreement will unfold as we go ahead and learn about it, the mere fact that we are discussing it in a friendly atmosphere is also a good engagement. It will be interesting if the forthcoming SCO meet can be a cause of faster resolution of our mutual conflict.”

According to Maj Gen Ashok Kumar,  “India and China are facing each other at the LAC in Eastern Ladakh due to Chinese transgressions which are now completing three years. There was sudden progress last year in the month of September 22 ahead of SCO meet in Uzbekistan wherein the Hot Springs issue was resolved all of sudden. This development took place on September 22 though was discussed as early as in the 16th round of Corps commanders conference.”

“This was considered a positive gesture from the Chinese side to placate India so that Xi Jinping and Modi can positively interact during the SCO summit. India continued with its demand that status quo as existing in Apr 2020 must be restored which included the major Chinese transgressions in Depsang and Demchok,” he adds.