Now there will be 17th round of talks
Relations between the two countries suffered a severe blow following the PLA transgression in eastern Ladakh in May 2020. On 12 November Indian Army Chief Manoj Pandey publicly clarified that China is building infrastructure along the LAC. There has been no reduction in the number of PLA troops in occupied Aksai Chin in Ladakh. There will now be a 17th round meeting between senior military officers from both sides, the date of which is yet to be decided.
Chinese brigade near Siliguri Corridor
If the officials are to be believed, the Indian Army’s position in winter will depend on whether the three brigades go back to their bases or remain deployed in deeper areas in the western theatre. Each brigade comprises 4500 soldiers. A Combined Armed Brigade is deployed as reserve around the Phari Dzong area along the Siliguri Corridor near the China-Bhutan border. Two other brigades have been deployed in Arunachal Pradesh. These were incorporated into the Western Theater Command from the Eastern and Southern Theater Commands.
What does the deployment of China’s brigade mean?
Now the 20th Party Congress is over in China and Xi Jinping has secured his third term as President. National security planners expect the PLA brigades to go back to their original bases. If this does not happen, then the Indian Army will have to be vigilant in winter. However, defense analyst Saurabh Jha considers the deployment of the brigade as a defensive move by China aimed at securing the Chumbi Valley. Although the intentions of deploying two brigades near Arunachal Pradesh are aggressive.