Talks between the civil society groups of Ladakh and the High-Powered Committee (HPC) of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) High Powered Committee (HPC) will resume on September 9 in New Delhi, against the backdrop of several confidence-building measures taken by the stakeholders and a foundation laid in the previous round of talks.

Several members of the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), two key socio-religious bodies, arrived in Delhi on Tuesday (September 8, 2026). The fresh round of talks will be held around 4 p.m. in New Delhi. “We are hopeful about the talks. We will push for the inclusion of Ladakh in the Sixth Schedule to protect land, culture, jobs, ecology and identity,” said Sajjar Kargili, a member of the KDA.

The fresh round of talks between the Centre and Ladakh has come in the backdrop of the May 22 talks, which promised a “customised sui generis model” by adding provisions to Article 371. The MHA, while terming the demand of Statehood as “long-term aspiration”, had also pledged to customize a model of governance by establishing a UT level elected body with executive, financial and legislative powers.

Social, religious and political parties of Ladakh, ever since it was carved out as a separate Union Territory (UT) in 2019 from erstwhile State of J&K, have been demanding special status to protect the region’s environment, culture, jobs and land.

Ahead of the talks, a series of measures have been taken by the Lieutenant-Governor administration in Ladakh, which include setting up of a Bench of the High Court of J&K and Ladakh in the UT, approving the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (Nautor Regularisation) Rules, 2026 to provide proprietary rights to genuine Nautor landholders and the announcement of hill councils for all seven districts, including the five new districts in the region.  

“The decisions regarding the land were taken without consultations. We would have expected that the current talks were taken into consideration and the stakeholders were taken onboard,” said Mr. Kargili.

The establishment of seven Hill Councils is also likely to shadow the demands of Statehood and legislature. Each Hill Council, with 30 members, will increase the representative character to 210 elected members for a population of around 3.5 lakh people. “We demand that these hill councils are autonomous with constitutional powers as in the North-East under the Sixth Schedule,” said Mr. Kargili. 

Sources said the LAB and KDA will also push for dropping of police cases against locals who participated in street protests in September last year over the demands of Statehood and Sixth Schedule. These bodies will also raise the issue of compensation for four dead civilians and locals injured in last year’s protests with the Centre.  

Meanwhile, all protest marches, part of the ‘Martyrs Month’ to remember those who died last year in Ladakh, have been called off in the wake of a fresh round of talks with the Centre on September 9.