As stand-offs persist at some friction points at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh, India and China will hold the 14th round of military level talks on January 12 to speed up the process of disengagement

of troops.

The talks come in the backdrop of both the countries reiterating time and again that dialogue at the military and diplomatic levels is only way out to reduce tension at the LAC persisting for nearly two

years now. The last round of talks between the Corps Commanders of the two armies was held on October 10 last year. The Indian delegation will be led by the newly appointed 14th Corps commander Lt General Anindiya Sen.

The latest round of talks come at a time when more than 50,000 troops each from both the sides are facing each other at the LAC in Eastern Ladakh leading to tension.

While the troops from both the sides returned to their bases after nearly one half years in February last year from the Pangong Tso (lake), face-offs are still on at more than three places including the Hot Springs.

India has all along maintained that complete withdrawal from all the friction points and status quo ante restored as it existed before May 2020 is a prerequisite before ties are normalised between the two countries.

China, however, has dilly dallied so far on some

pretext or the other thereby prolonging tension at

the LAC.

The Indian Government after the 13th round of military level talks had said during the meeting the discussions between the two sides focused on resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh.

The Indian side pointed out that the situation along the LAC had been caused by unilateral attempts of Chinese

side to alter the status quo and in violation of the bilateral agreements.

It was, therefore, necessary that the Chinese side take appropriate steps in the remaining areas so as to restore peace and tranquility along the LAC in the Western Sector.

This would also be in accord with the guidance provided by the two Foreign Ministers in their recent meeting in Dushanbe where they had agreed that the two sides should resolve the remaining issues at the earliest.

The Indian side emphasised such resolution of the remaining areas would facilitate progress in the bilateral relations. During the meeting, the Indian side therefore made constructive suggestions for resolving the remaining areas but the Chinese side was not agreeable and also could not provide any forward-looking proposals. The meeting thus did not result in resolution of the remaining areas.

The two sides have agreed to maintain communications and also to maintain stability on the ground. It is our expectation that the Chinese side will take into account the overall perspective of bilateral relations and will work towards early resolution of the remaining issues while fully abiding by bilateral agreements and protocols.

However, China then said “Instead of misjudging the situation, the Indian side should cherish the hard-won situation in China-India border areas.”  These remarks were made by Senior Colonel Long Shaohua, spokesperson for the Western Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

The spokesperson made the remarks in a statement talking about the 13th round of China-India Corps Commander Level Meeting. According to him, the meeting was held on October 10 at the Moldo-Chushul border meeting point on the Chinese side.

The spokesperson said during the meeting, the Chinese side made great efforts to promote the easing and cooling of the border situation and fully demonstrated China’s sincerity of maintaining overall interests of bilateral military relations.

However, the Indian side still persisted in its unreasonable and unrealistic demands, which added difficulties to the negotiations.

The spokesperson pointed out that China is firm in its resolve to safeguard national sovereignty.

He hoped that the Indian side should avoid misjudging the situation and cherish the hard-won situation in the China-India border areas.

The Indian side should abide by the relevant agreements and consensus reached between the two countries and two militaries, show sincerity and take concrete actions to jointly safeguard peace

and stability in the border areas with China, the spokesperson added.