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India, China complete Pangong disengagement? Corp commanders to meet tomorrow

This will be 10th round of corp commander-level talks since standoff in Ladakh began

Chinese tanks pulling back from Pangong Tso | Supplied

The corp commanders of the Indian and Chinese armies will meet at Moldo on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control at 10am on Saturday, multiple reports said. This will be the 10th round of corp commander-level talks between the two sides since the standoff in Ladakh started last year.

The New Indian Express reported, "The Indian side will be led by Lt Gen P.G.K. Menon, 14 Corps Commander, and the Chinese side will be headed by Maj Gen Lin Liu, Commander of South Xinjian Military District."

Interestingly, the news of the talks has triggered speculation that Indian and Chinese forces had completed disengagement of personnel and equipment from the north and south banks of the Pangong Tso lake. The two sides had announced an agreement last week to move away forces from Pangong Tso. According to the agreement, a meeting of corp commanders was to have been held within 48 hours after disengagement of forces in Pangong Tso. The meeting would discuss plans for disengagement in other 'friction points' in Ladakh such as Gogra, Hot Springs and Depsang.

Earlier this week, the Indian Army released videos and photographs showing Chinese soldiers and tanks moving away from Pangong Tso, while equipment and fortifications were also being removed. NDTV reported, "Both sides pulled back troops, tanks and other equipment from the banks of Pangong Tso, which became a flashpoint in the prolonged border dispute. Satellite imagery of some areas on the northern bank of Pangong Tso supplied by Maxar Technologies showed multiple Chinese military camps seen in late January now removed."