With China being obstinate the India-China talks collapse

Both sides will keep troops in forwarding areas for a second freezing winter as 17-month standoff continues

October 11, 2021

Both India-China will keep troops in forwarding areas for a second freezing winter as 17-month standoff continues

India-China talks to defuse border tensions fail

India-China were to hold the 13th round of talks between the Indian Army Commanders and the Chinese Military Commanders over the standoff in Ladakh.

The talks began around 10:30 am on Sunday at Moldo and concluded at about 7 pm. The Indian side was led by the Army’s Leh based 14 Corps Commander Lt Gen P G K Menon. Details on the outcome of the talks were not immediately available. The meeting took place over two months after the last round of negotiations that resulted in the disengagement of troops from Gogra (Patrol Point-17A).

The army statement said, “During the meeting, the Indian side 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 Indian side pointed out that the situation along the Line of Actual Control had been caused by unilateral attempts of the 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 tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control 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 Army stated, “The Indian side emphasized that such resolution of the remaining areas would facilitate progress in the bilateral relations.”

However, 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,” the Indian Army stated.

Ahead of the talks, speaking at an event on Saturday Army Chief Gen Manoj Naravane noted that it was a matter of concern that the large-scale build-up has occurred and continues to be in place, and to sustain that kind of a build-up, there has been an equal amount of infrastructure development on the Chinese side.

Stating that if they continue to stay there through the second winter, it “definitely means that we will be in a kind of Line of Control (LoC) situation though not an active LoC as is there on the western front,” Gen Naravane added, “So, it means that they (China) are there to stay. We are keeping a close watch on all these developments, but if they are there to stay, we are there to stay too.”

[With Inputs from IANS]
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