India and China have agreed to hold another Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) meeting on border affairs this month in order to break the deadlock created by the 13th round of senior commanders meeting on October 10. Both parties have agreed to hold the meeting, but the dates have yet to be determined.

According to officials in New Delhi and Beijing, the WMCC, which is led by additional secretary level officials on both sides, will have a difficult time resolving the disengagement and restoring patrolling rights to the Indian Army in Depsang Bulge and Charding Nullah Junction (CNJ), Demchok, due to the Peoples’ Liberation Army’s obstinate attitude (PLA). According to reports, during the 13th round of military commanders’ meetings, the PLA resorted to half-measures to resolve the disengagement in the Hot Springs area, refusing to return to permanent bases or restoring the status quo ante as it existed in April 2020.

In May 2020, the PLA unilaterally changed ground positions on the north banks of the Pangong Tso, Galwan, Gogra, and Hot Springs in East Ladakh in an attempt to impose the rejected 1959 line along the 1597-kilometer Line of Actual Control in Ladakh. While the PLA decided to withdraw from its current position in the Hot Springs area in a half-hearted attempt to resolve the conflict, they did not agree to return to a permanent base, as stipulated in previous India-China leadership meetings. The Indian Army representative, for his part, rejected this proposal, insisting that both parties return to their permanent bases to resolve the Hot Springs issue.

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