India, China to hold 9th round of talks tomorrow to resolve Ladakh standoff

New Delhi: India and China will hold the 9th round of corps commander level military talks on Sunday to resolve the ongoing standoff between the two nuclear-powered countries in Eastern Ladakh.

The military talks between the two sides are expected to begin at around 9.30 AM in Moldo opposite the Chushul sector on the Indian side of the border on Sunday. The military talks between the two sides come after more than two months. The last round (8th round) of talks took place on 6th November.

The latest round of talks will take place several months after the standoff at the Line of Actual Control began in Eastern Ladakh.

The border standoff that started in April/May last year intensified after the Galwan incident in June during which 20 Indian soldiers died and an undisclosed number of Chinese troops died in bloody man-to-man combat.

China has so far stayed mum about the casualties suffered by its military during the Galwan Valley clashes.

The last corps commander level talks between Indian and China happened in November where "both sides agreed to earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries (India and China), ensure their frontline troops to exercise restraint and avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation.” 

“India and China agreed to maintain dialogue and communication through military and diplomatic channels and taking forward the discussions at this meeting, push for the settlement of other outstanding issues, so as to jointly maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas. India and China also agreed to have another round of meeting soon,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)  had said after the last round of talks.

Along with the military round of talks, both sides continue to engage themselves through diplomatic channels - Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC).

The last round of WMCC took place on 18 December. During that round of talks, the two sides agreed to hold the next round of Senior Commanders' meeting soon.

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