Pangong Tso is situated at an altitude of 13,900 ft in eastern Ladakh (Getty)
NEW DELHI: Chinese troops have now also pulled back from the confrontation site at Pangong Tso, though they are still to vacate the heights, setting the stage for the next meeting between Indian and Chinese corps commanders early next week to take forward the stepwise disengagement process under way in eastern Ladakh.
PLA soldiers and their vehicles have now completely withdrawn from “the base” of Finger-4 eastwards to Finger-5 (mountainous spurs) on the north bank of Pangong Tso, as was agreed in the June 30 meeting of the corps commanders, said sources on Thursday.
Though PLA is yet to vacate the ridge-line that dominates the Finger-4 area, the over 800-metre pullback at the base is a “positive signal” for the completion of phase-I of the de-escalation plan decided between 14 Corps comm