An Army truck moves towards LAC in eastern Ladakh. File
| Photo Credit: PTI
India and China held the 20th round of corps commander-level talks at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Indian side over the last two days which failed to make any headway to end the stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. The two sides agreed to maintain the momentum of “dialogue and negotiations” while also committing to “maintain” peace and tranquillity on the ground, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on October 11.
Like in the previous rounds, this time too the talks were held over two days on October 9 and 10.
“The two sides exchanged views in a frank, open and constructive manner for an early and mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC in the western sector, in accordance with the guidance provided by the national leadership of the two countries, and building on the progress made in the last round of corps commanders’ meeting held on August 13-14, 2023,” the MEA statement said. “They agreed to maintain the momentum of dialogue and negotiations through the relevant military and diplomatic mechanisms.”
They also committed to maintain peace and tranquillity on the ground in the border areas in the interim, the statement added.
At the 19th round of talks, which came before the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) virtual summit and ahead of the G-20 Summit hosted by New Delhi, there were high expectations of a breakthrough on the ground on the stalemate at Depsang Plains and Demchok in eastern Ladakh. Following the talks between the Corps Commanders, several rounds of Major General-level talks were held over Depsang and Demchok, as reported by The Hindu earlier.
Modi-Xi meet
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a brief conversation on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg in August though both sides disagreed on the nature of it. Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra had told reporters that both had “underlined that the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas and observing and respecting the LAC are essential for the normalisation of the India-China relationship”. However, the Chinese statement made no such mention but said that Mr. Xi had said both sides “should bear in mind the overall interests” of ties and “handle properly” the border issue. The Chinese statement also said they had spoken at India’s request, prompting “official sources” in New Delhi to tell reporters that it was China that had requested a more structured bilateral meeting, which India had turned down.
Meanwhile, over 1 lakh soldiers from both countries continue to remain deployed in eastern Ladakh close to the LAC in the high altitude areas for another winter.