JOIN USIndia, China hold another round of diplomatic talks on border standoff in eastern Ladakh
The local commanders of the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will keep in touch to implement the understanding reached between the senior commanders of the two sides to pause build-up along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the diplomats of the two nations agreed on Wednesday.
The diplomats of India and China had a video conference and agreed that while the senior military commanders would meet again soon, the ground commanders of the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA would keep in touch to avoid any misunderstanding and to maintain stability along the LAC in eastern Ladakh.
The video conference was the 19th round of talks under the framework of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC).
Naveen Srivastava, who heads the East Asia division at the Ministry of External Affairs, will lead the delegation of the Government of India in the video conference. The delegation of the Chinese Government will be led by Hong Liang, the Director General of the Department of Boundary and Oceanic Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Srivastava and Hong earlier had as many as four video conferences within the framework of the WMCC on June 24, July 10, July 24 and August 20 to resolve the current military stand-off along the disputed boundary between the two nations in eastern Ladakh.
The two sides positively evaluated the outcome of the 6th meeting the senior commanders of the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA had on the LAC on September 21 last.
They emphasized the need to implement the steps outlined in the joint press release issued after the last meeting of the senior commanders so as to avoid misunderstandings and to maintain stability on the ground, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a press-release issued after the video conference on Wednesday. “In this context,” it added, “the need to strengthen communication, especially between the ground commanders, was emphasized by both sides.”
Lt. Gen. Harinder Singh, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 14 Corps of the Indian Army, and Maj Gen Liu Lin of the Chinese PLA had a more-than-14-hour-long meeting on the LAC – the de facto boundary between the two nations in the western sector – on September 21.
They agreed to stop sending more soldiers to the face-off points along the disputed boundary between the two nations in eastern Ladakh, but could not end the stalemate over withdrawal of large numbers of troops the two sides already deployed since the stand-off started.
A source in New Delhi said that both sides agreed on the need to keep the channels of communications open between the commanders of the so that neither side had any misunderstanding about the implementation by the other side of the agreement reached on September 21 on stopping further deployment of the troops along the LAC.
The two sides also agreed to continue to maintain close consultations at the diplomatic and military level. They agreed that the next round of the meeting of senior military commanders should be held at an early date so that both sides could work towards early and complete disengagement of the troops along the LAC in accordance with the existing bilateral agreement and protocols, and fully restore peace and tranquillity.