LAC stand-off: Signs of stalemate in India-China talks again, Jaishankar says ties in 'most difficult phase'

Multiple agreements between the two sides were inked from 1993 with a commitment that both parties will not bring large forces to the border areas

The relation between India and China is in its “most difficult phase”, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday, amid signs of yet another impasse in the talks between the two neighbouring nations to resolve the seven-month-long stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

“We are today probably at the most difficult phase of our relationship with China, certainly in the last 30 to 40 years...or even more,” he said, pointing out that the June 15 violent face-off at Galwan Valley resulted in first military casualties on the disputed boundary between the two nations since 1975. During an online discussion hosted by the Lowy Institute of Australia, he said that the relations between India and China are “profoundly disturbed” as the communist country’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) amassed a large number of troops along the LAC in eastern Ladakh.

The External Affairs Minister’s comment on the state of relations between the two nations came just a day after China hinted that its negotiation with India for resolution of the stand-off would remain suspended, unless New Delhi acted on the “consensus” the two sides had reached during earlier rounds of parleys.

The senior commanders of the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA had held the eighth round of talks on November 6. Though the talks had ended without any breakthrough, the two sides had agreed to have another round of meetings soon. But neither the military commanders, nor the diplomats of the two nations had any engagement in the past four weeks to end the stand-off.

The Chinese PLA not only reinforced and fortified its forward positions along the LAC, but also built roads, particularly on the northern bank of Pangong Tso (lake), instead of preparing to pull back its soldiers from the face-off scenes. China also inked a new defence cooperation pact with Pakistan last week, ostensibly to step up pressure on India. The Chinese Air Force also recently sent fighter jets to a base of the Pakistani Air Force closer to Pakistan-India border for a joint exercise.

Beijing also recently cancelled the launch of a commemorative postal stamp to mark 70th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between China and India, alleging that it had not received the feedback from New Delhi.

Jaishankar on Wednesday referred to a series of agreements India and China signed to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas, beginning with the one signed in 1993, which prohibited deployment of large numbers of soldiers along the disputed boundary between the two nations. He alleged that China had violated its agreements with India and “literally brought tens of thousands of soldiers in full military preparation mode right to the LAC in Ladakh”. He said that Beijing had so far given New Delhi five differing explanations for its build-up along the LAC. “Naturally the relationship would be profoundly disturbed by this,” said the External Affairs Minister.

Though India and China had agreed upon a roadmap for mutual withdrawal of front-line troops from the face-off scenes along the LAC in early July, the process had come to a halt within a fortnight, with the Chinese PLA declining to completely pull back soldiers from several “points of friction” along the LAC – like Depsang Y junction, Gogra Post and the northern bank of Pangong Tso. Though the senior military commanders of the two sides had held the fifth round of talks on August 2, they had failed to end the stalemate.

After Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a meeting in Moscow on September 10, the military commanders of the two nations had again met on the LAC on September 21 – ending an almost six-week-long hiatus. They had agreed to stop further deployment of soldiers on the face-off points, but had not been able to reach an agreement to restart the stalled process of pulling back troops already deployed on the LAC.

The senior commanders of the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA had discussed during the seventh and eighth rounds of talks in October and November a plan for restarting the mutual disengagement of troops from the face-off scenes, beginning with the northern and southern banks of Pangong Tso.

The plan, however, could not be implemented yet as the Indian Army turned down the Chinese PLA’s proposal for creating a moratorium on patrolling between Finger 3 and Finger 8 on the northern bank of the lake.

China on Tuesday said that its further talks with India to resolve the seven-month-long military stand-off along the disputed boundary between the two nations would depend on implementation of the consensus reached during the previous rounds of parleys.

“China and India have been in close communication on the border issue through diplomatic and military channels to further ease tensions,” Hua Chunying, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Government, said in Beijing. “The two sides will hold consultations over specific arrangements for further talks on the basis of acting on existing consensus reached through previous talks.”