On the sidelines of the SCO foreign ministers meeting in Dushanbe, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will meet with his Chinese counterpart, State Councilor Wang Yi, to discuss the evolving security situation in Afghanistan and ways to expedite de-escalation and disengagement in East Ladakh. Jaishankar is leaving today for Dushanbe, Tajikistan, and will also be in Uzbekistan for an international meeting on connectivity between south and central Asia.
The Taliban offensive in Afghanistan will be the focus of the SCO Dushanbe meeting, with the fundamentalist force encircling the Afghan nation by seizing two land routes to Tajikistan via the Amu Darya and another to Iran via Herat. The largely Sunni Pashtun force will almost certainly try to capture the land route from Mazar-e-Sharif to Termez in Uzbekistan, after which it will launch an all-out assault on Kabul, forcing the Afghan Army to surrender or be killed. The brutal killing of surrendered Afghan Army commandos, which was broadcast on western television, demonstrates that the Taliban’s fundamental nature has not changed 20 years after it was evicted by US forces.
While the security situation in Afghanistan and its implications for neighbouring South and Central Asia are on the agenda for the SCO ministerial meeting, EAM Jaishankar will also discuss the East Ladakh situation with foreign minister Wang Yi, as the PLA continues to delay disengagement and de-escalation in East Ladakh. The dates for the 12th round of senior military commanders meetings are expected to be finalised after the two foreign ministers discuss the next steps.
As a 2013 legacy issue, the PLA wants senior commanders to discuss disengagement from the Gogra-Hot Springs area near Kongka La and leave the Depsang Bulge to local commanders. The Modi government, on the other hand, is adamant that the Depsang Bulge issue must be addressed, as the PLA is blocking the area’s ingress route and refusing to allow the Indian Army to patrol points 10 to 13 in the region. “As the Depsang and Gogra-Hot Springs situation has been created due to PLA transgressions, it is important that the military commanders find a resolution to the aggravated situation as armies on both sides are packed up on either side of Line of Actual Control in East Ladakh,” said a senior official.
The Depsang Bulge is located south of Daulet Beg Oldi (DBO), between the Indian Darbu-Shyok-DBO road and the Chinese-built Tainkong Highway.
India and China will also talk about the situation in Afghanistan, with the Taliban unilaterally promising Beijing that they will not allow Uighur militants to operate against “friend” China through the Wakhan Corridor.
