India-China border row: Corps Commanders meeting at Chushul tomorrow to end dead heat

Corps Commanders of the Indian and Chinese armies are scheduled to meet Tuesday morning at the Chushul border point as part of efforts to de-escalate the situation on the LAC in Ladakh.

This will be the third meeting between XIV Corps Commander Lt General Harinder Singh and South Xinjiang Military Region Commander Major General Liu Lin. The meeting Tuesday will be at the border point in Chushul, unlike the June 6 and June 22 meetings at Moldo on the Chinese side.

Army sources pointed to a “trust deficit” between the two sides following the Galwan Valley clashes in which20 Indian soldiers were killed on June 15. Chinese troops, sources said, have continued to build infrastructure near Pangong Tso and Galwan Valley, and have also made incursions in the Depsang Plains, close to Daulat Beg Oldie, India’s strategic base near the Karakoram Pass.

To mirror the Chinese build-up, a top source in the Army said, additional air defense elements have been deployed in Ladakh, and the Army has moved additional troops.

“Wherever we are deployed, air defense is something integral. It is an inherent part of the deployment. So, air defense having been deployed is natural,” the source said.

The XIV Corps, the source said, has its own air defense element there, but with “more Air Force and Army deployment, proportional air defense element has also been brought in”.

Another source from the defense establishment said: “In this heightened state of readiness, necessary measures have been taken by all services working in an integrated environment to ensure that we are ready for all eventualities.”