NEW DELHI: Chinese mouthpiece Global times (GT) stated on Thursday that reports of India and China having finalized a detailed disengagement plan to deactivate the military confrontation in eastern Ladakh they were “inaccurate” at this stage even when they said the momentum from the recent military-level talks was good.
“Such reports are not helpful for the two sides to achieve their stated goals,” the Chinese newspaper said. Their main complaint appeared to be against Indian media reports that the proposed troop withdrawal, if finalized, will likely begin on the north shore of Pangong Tso, where Chinese troops have occupied the 8-mile stretch. km from “Finger-4 to 8” Since the beginning of May.
China, for its part, has long been insisting that Indian troops should first withdraw from the heights they occupied on the southern shore of the Pangong Tso-Chushul area on Aug. 29-30.
The “momentum generated by the eighth round of corps commander talks (Nov. 6) is good,” GT said. But he went on to state that “whether the withdrawal of troops starts from the south or north of Pangong Tso, how to withdraw and with how many troops, were key issues” that still need to be finalized by the two sides.
TOI reported Thursday that India and China had “broadly agreed” to withdraw troops, tanks, howitzers and armored vehicles from “friction points” in the Pangong Tso-Chushul area of eastern Ladakh. However, the “exact modalities and sequence of steps”, as well as the joint verification process for the proposed withdrawal plan, were still being discussed between the two parties.
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