NEW DELHI, 01 August 2021, (TON): India and China held the 12th round of the Corps Commander-level talks on Saturday to find a possible resolution for the nearly 15-month-long military standoff in eastern Ladakh. The meeting was held on the Chinese side of Chushul-Moldo Border Personnel Meeting point.

Sources said the meeting, which began around 10.30 am, continued until 7.30 pm, and defence establishment sources were hopeful of reaching an understanding for disengagement from Hot Spring and Gogra Post, Patrolling Point (PP) 15 and PP17A, respectively, friction points.

There are platoon-sized units of troops on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) at both these friction points since last year. But the troops are not in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation anywhere in eastern Ladakh.

The talks, however, are unlikely to resolve issues in Depsang Plains and Demchok. In Depsang Plains, Chinese PLA troops are blocking Indian soldiers from accessing their traditional patrolling limits, PP10, PP11, PP11A, PP12 and PP13, in the region. India had accessed the patrolling limits in February 2020, before the standoff began last May.