<p>India on Thursday once again asked China to respect the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between the two nations, although the joint statement issued after a meeting of the foreign ministers of the two nations a week ago had no reference to it.</p>.<p>New Delhi also asked Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) not to make any further attempt to unilaterally change the status quo along the LAC – the de facto boundary between the two neighbouring nations in the western sector.</p>.<p>The joint statement issued after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had a meeting with his counterpart in the Chinese Government, Wang Yi, in Moscow on September 10, however, had no reference to the LAC. The joint statement also had no commitment from the Chinese PLA to pull back troops from the face-off points to restore the status quo along the LAC.</p>.<p>Though a week has passed after Jaishankar and Wang agreed on five points during the meeting in Moscow, India and China could not yet make any noticeable progress in implementing the consensus and resolve the four-month-long military stand-off between the two nations along the LAC in eastern Ladakh.</p>.<p>Anurag Srivastava, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), told journalists in New Delhi that China should “sincerely work” with India for “complete disengagement at the earliest from all friction areas including Pangong Tso (lake) as well as de-escalation in border areas in accordance with the bilateral agreements and protocols on the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in border areas”. </p>.<p>The five-point consensus reached during Jaishankar-Wang meeting included restarting stalled talks between senior military commanders to defuse tension along the LAC. They also agreed that the diplomats of the two nations would also continue to hold talks to resolve the stand-off. But no talks between the senior military commanders or the diplomat was held in the past seven days since the meeting in Moscow.</p>.<p>India hopes that China would “strictly respect and observe” the LAC and not make a further attempt to unilaterally change the status quo, the MEA spokesperson said during a routine media briefing on Thursday.</p>.<p>The Jaishankar-Wang meeting was preceded by talks between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his counterpart in the communist country, Wei Fenghe, in the capital of Russia.</p>.<p>Srivastava on Wednesday noted that India and China had agreed on “quick and complete disengagement of troops from all friction areas along the LAC” during both the meetings. </p>
<p>India on Thursday once again asked China to respect the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between the two nations, although the joint statement issued after a meeting of the foreign ministers of the two nations a week ago had no reference to it.</p>.<p>New Delhi also asked Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) not to make any further attempt to unilaterally change the status quo along the LAC – the de facto boundary between the two neighbouring nations in the western sector.</p>.<p>The joint statement issued after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had a meeting with his counterpart in the Chinese Government, Wang Yi, in Moscow on September 10, however, had no reference to the LAC. The joint statement also had no commitment from the Chinese PLA to pull back troops from the face-off points to restore the status quo along the LAC.</p>.<p>Though a week has passed after Jaishankar and Wang agreed on five points during the meeting in Moscow, India and China could not yet make any noticeable progress in implementing the consensus and resolve the four-month-long military stand-off between the two nations along the LAC in eastern Ladakh.</p>.<p>Anurag Srivastava, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), told journalists in New Delhi that China should “sincerely work” with India for “complete disengagement at the earliest from all friction areas including Pangong Tso (lake) as well as de-escalation in border areas in accordance with the bilateral agreements and protocols on the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in border areas”. </p>.<p>The five-point consensus reached during Jaishankar-Wang meeting included restarting stalled talks between senior military commanders to defuse tension along the LAC. They also agreed that the diplomats of the two nations would also continue to hold talks to resolve the stand-off. But no talks between the senior military commanders or the diplomat was held in the past seven days since the meeting in Moscow.</p>.<p>India hopes that China would “strictly respect and observe” the LAC and not make a further attempt to unilaterally change the status quo, the MEA spokesperson said during a routine media briefing on Thursday.</p>.<p>The Jaishankar-Wang meeting was preceded by talks between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his counterpart in the communist country, Wei Fenghe, in the capital of Russia.</p>.<p>Srivastava on Wednesday noted that India and China had agreed on “quick and complete disengagement of troops from all friction areas along the LAC” during both the meetings. </p>
