Indian, Chinese top military commanders likely to meet this week

Top Indian and Chinese military commanders are likely to meet along the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC) this week to reduce military tensions in eastern Ladakh where the situation remains tense after a series of recent maneuvers by the two armies in the Pangong Tso area, people familiar with the developments said on Monday.

Corps commander-ranked officers have so far met five times but failed to break the deadlock. This will be their first meeting after the Indian Army swiftly moved and occupied key heights to prevent the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) from grabbing Indian territory on the southern bank of Pangong Tso in a stealthy midnight move on August 29.

The Indian Army controls ridgeline positions on the southern bank of Pangong Tso that allow it to completely dominate the sector and keep an eye on Chinese military activity, with the most significant heights being held by India on Rezang La and Reqin pass where the PLA made some desperate attempts to regain lost ground earlier this month, the officials said.

The Indian Army has also taken control of key heights overlooking the PLA’s deployments on the Finger 4 ridgeline on the northern bank of Pangong Tso where rival soldiers are deployed barely a few hundred metres from each other, as reported by Hindustan Times on Thursday.

The Indian Army rushed its front-line tanks and infantry combat vehicles (ICVs) to strategic heights held by its soldiers on the southern bank of Pangong Tso in eastern Ladakh in response to intimidating military moves by the PLA in the theatre earlier this month, the officials said. Conflict in the eastern Ladakh theatre is below the threshold of a shooting war but could take any trajectory, top officials told HT last week.