China claims to withdraw from hot spring area

According to a report in the English newspaper Hindustan Times, China has claimed for the first time that its People’s Liberation Army personnel have retreated from the hot spring area on the LAC in eastern Ladakh. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has told HT that China is working closely with India to arrive at an acceptable solution to the standoff with India in eastern Ladakh “at the earliest”. Not only this, China has claimed that the army has evacuated the Galvan Valley, Pangong Lake and Hot Spring area.

15th round of talks took place on 11th March itself

In fact, there has been a standoff between the two countries on the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh for about 22 months and even after several rounds of diplomatic and military talks, a complete solution has not been found. India has spoken of disengagement from the North and South Banks of Pangong Lake and Gogra. The 15th round of talks between the military commanders of the two countries was concluded on March 11 only. After this, when the newspaper contacted the Chinese Foreign Ministry, it made a short statement in Mandarin language.

‘Trying to reach a mutually acceptable solution as soon as possible’

“China and India held the 15th round of commander-level discussions on March 11 and issued a joint press release,” said a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry. “Since last year, the process of disengaging has been completed successfully in Galwan Valley, Pangong Lake and Hot Spring area from both the sides. The present ground situation is stable and controllable. Regarding the talks, China said, “Both sides have agreed to continue discussions through military and diplomatic channels to reach a mutually acceptable solution at the earliest.”

Is China lying on the hot spring area?

However, China’s statement does not mention the areas from where the evacuation process is yet to be completed or why this work is taking so long. Not only this, people with knowledge of this matter have said that not every disputed area of ​​Hot Spring area is vacant. However, not much detail has been given about it. According to them, the last process of evacuating the soldiers was done on August 4-5, 2021 at Gogra or Patrolling Point 17A. This was decided in the 12th round of military commanders’ talks on July 31, 2021.

What is the meaning of China’s claim?

Earlier, China had officially accepted the withdrawal of troops from the Pangong Lake area only in February 2021 and Galvan Valley in 2020. In August 2021, India had announced the withdrawal of troops from Gogra, but the Chinese government and the PLA also kept silent on that. In the last talks between the two countries, it was agreed to resolve all the issues at the earliest and through dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and accordingly a joint statement was issued. It is not clear why China has claimed to vacate the hot spring area at this time. Experts believe that it may be that due to the current global situation and the internal situation of China, it may want to reduce the tension right now! (photos-file)