India, China to hold sixth Crops Commander-level meet on Monday, MEA official to be present

New Delhi: The India, China Corps Commander meeting will take place on Monday (September 21, 2020) morning at 9 am IST at Moldo, Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). 

This time a diplomat from the Indian side will be present at the meeting. Naveen Srivastava, Joint Secretary East Asia of Ministry of External Affairs will attend the Crops Commander meet tomorrow. 

Atleast five such corps commander meetings between the Indian and Chinese armies has taken place on June 6, 22 and 30, July 14 and August 2.

In the first meet, on June 6, both sides had arrived on a consensus for disengagement but the Chinese violated it which lead to a bloody stand off at Galwan on June 15. India had lost 20 soldiers while China also suffered casualties.

India's focus will be on disengagement by the Chinese PLA, something which New Delhi has been reiterating since the beginning of the more than four month long stand off.

This is the first such meeting since the Moscow pact, a key outcome of the meeting between India and China Foriegn Ministers S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on September 10 on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO) meet in Moscow.

The agreement included measures like quick disengagement of troops, avoiding action that could escalate tensions, adherence to all agreements and protocols on border management and steps to restore peace along the LAC.

The situation in eastern Ladakh deteriorated after China unsuccessfully attempted to occupy Indian territory in the southern bank of Pangong lake on the intervening night of August 29 and 30.

On Friday, India had carried out a comprehensive review of the overall situation in eastern Ladakh including its operational preparedness in view of the continued belligerence by the Chinese army and its fresh attempts to "intimidate" Indian troops in the region, government sources said.

At a nearly 90-minute meeting of the high-power China Study Group, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Bipin Rawat and the three service chiefs also looked at further enhancing the vigil along the nearly 3,500-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC), including in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim sectors, sources had said.

Following China's fresh attempts to change the status quo in the southern bank of Pangong lake, India has further bolstered its military presence in the region.