Talks between India, China on Hot Spring disengagement break down

Government sources say Chinese military commanders have not agreed on the modalities for creating a demilitarised, 2-km-wide buffer zone.

In a blow to hopes of a Chinese withdrawal in the Hot Spring area of Ladakh, negotiators from China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have refused to withdraw after crossing several kilometres (km) into India’s side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Government sources say local military commanders from the two sides have not agreed on the creation of a demilitarised, 2-km-wide buffer zone. This would separate Indian and Chinese troops who are currently deployed eyeball-to-eyeball in the vicinity of Patrolling Point 15 (PP-15) and PP-17A, along the Chang Chenmo River.

Near PP-15, where an estimated 1,000 Chinese soldiers have