Wangchuk set to join Ladakh talks today

SRINAGAR: Climate activist and Leh Apex Body (LAB) member Sonam Wangchuk will take part Friday in talks with the Centre on Ladakh, doing so as part of a delegation for the first time since such parleys began in 2023 on the political future of the Union territory (UT).

LAB, an umbrella group of the region’s political and religious organisations, will be represented by Wangchuk, Chering Dorjay Lakrook, and Dorjay Stanzin. Lakrook is co-chairman of LAB and president of Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA), while Stanzin is president of Ladakh Gonpa Association.

Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), another regional group, will also join the meeting, represented by Asgar Ali Karbalai and Sajjad Kargili, both co-chairman, and member Ghulam Rasool. All delegation members reached New Delhi on Thursday. The Centre had on April 26 announced the talks with a Union home ministry (MHA) sub-committee.

Asked about the meeting, Lakrook merely said “he is hoping “for the best”. Kargili expected “some results now”. “We have been holding talks for the past few years. We don’t want talks for the sake of talks,” Kargili said.

Since the abrogation of Article 370 on Aug 5, 2019, and bifurcation of erstwhile J&K state into the UTs of J&K and Ladakh, Ladakh has seen agitations seeking Sixth Schedule status and statehood. These were led by LAB and KDA, formed in Leh and Kargil a year after 370’s abrogation.

Wangchuk initially supported these demands independently through Gandhian-style hunger strikes and long marches until last year when he joined LAB.

MHA had established a high-powered committee on Jan 2, 2023, led by junior minister Nityanand Rai, to address key issues of Ladakh. Since then, many rounds of talks have been held under a high-powered committee, and occasionally at a sub-committee level.

The dialogue process stopped after four people were killed and over 80 injured in alleged police firing on protesters in Leh demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule safeguards on Sept 24, 2025. Wangchuk was accused of inciting the protesters through speeches. He was arrested, charged under National Security Act (NSA) and kept in Jodhpur jail.

The Centre revoked Wangchuk’s NSA detention in March this year and affirmed its commitment to “constructive engagement and dialogue” to resolve the region’s issues. After his release, Wangchuk has pressed for such talks, saying Ladakh “hangs between trust and mistrust”.

The talks resumed in Delhi on Oct 22 last year after the Centre ordered a judicial inquiry into the alleged firing. Another round of talks took place on Feb 4 but remained “inconclusive."