This will be the first meeting of the senior commanders, Lieutenant General Harinder Singh and his Chinese counterpart, Major General Liu Lin, after August 2. The others will include two major generals, Abhijeet Bapat and Param Shekhawat, as well as the head of the ITBP.
The meeting, according to sources, will be an opportunity to review positions and situation since then, and begin the first concrete steps towards a disconnection.
The Chinese side took the initiative for the meeting and had initially proposed on September 17. This was not acceptable to the Indian side, which said it would be willing to meet after September 20.
There have been three major events since the last meeting: The Indian Army reversed its initial tactical disadvantages vis-à-vis the Chinese positions on the northern and southern banks of the Pangong Tso, by dominating certain important heights on the crucial ridges.
The first case of shooting between the two parties was reported on September 7.
The foreign ministers of India and China met in Moscow on September 10 and reached a five-point consensus on disengagement. India has emphasized that complete disconnection would be an essential prerequisite for tension reduction.
The meeting is expected to begin a disengagement process, but only if there appears to be some degree of agreement between the two parties.
The MEA’s presence in the talks is intended to keep the discussions within the political parameters of the relationship and the broader border understandings between the two parties.
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