China border row: Ajit Doval, Wang Yi to discuss roadblocks in troop pullout process

The Special Representatives of India and China are likely to hold yet another round of talks soon to discuss the roadblocks in the process of withdrawal of troops from the scenes of the face-off along the disputed boundary between the two nations.

New Delhi is worried after the Indian Army noticed that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had not yet withdrawn troops from the northern bank of the Pangong Tso lake as well as several other face-off scenes along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) – the de facto boundary between the two nations. The PLA also maintained additional deployment of nearly 40,000-45,000 troops in the “depth” areas on China’s side of the LAC.

India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi – the Special Representatives of the two governments for boundary negotiation and strategic consultations – will review the progress in the process of “disengagement” the two sides had agreed upon earlier this month to resolve the stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

The “disengagement” started after the Senior Commanders of the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA had agreed upon it after three rounds of meetings on June 6, 22 and 30. A two-hour-long phone call between Doval and Wang on July 5 added momentum to the process. The senior commanders of the two armies had another round of talks on July 14.

The stand-off took New Delhi’s relations with Beijing to a new low, particularly after the violent clash between the Indian and Chinese soldiers in Galwan Valley on June 15. The Indian Army lost 20 of its soldiers in the clash. The Chinese PLA too suffered casualties, but it did not make public the number of its soldiers, who were injured or killed in the violent face-off.

New Delhi is worried about the continuing stand-off on the northern bank of the Pangong Tso (lake), where the Chinese PLA deployed soldiers and built structures at the “Finger 4” area, thus denying access to Indian Army to areas up to its earlier patrolling limit – the “Finger 8”. Sources said that although the PLA had apparently thinned out some of its troops and vehicles from “Finger 4”, the numbers were not significant.

China also showed no sign of withdrawing the large number of troops it deployed over the past few weeks in the rear areas on its side of its disputed boundary with India – flouting the 1993 bilateral agreement, which required each side to “keep its military forces in the areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to a minimum level”.