Indian Army and PLA soldiers during a meeting near the LAC in northern sector. (Photo via Twitter)
New Delhi: India and China held their 17th round of corps commander-level talks to resolve the ongoing stand-off between the militaries of the two countries along the line of actual control, the defence ministry said in a media release, on Thursday. The talks were held at the northern sector’s Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Chinese side, on December 20, the ministry said.
This meeting was held just 11 days after the fists-and-clubs clash between Indian Army and China’s People’s Liberation Army troops at the LAC in the Yangtse plateau near Tawang, in the eastern sector. However, the ministry said the focus of the December 20 meeting was to resolve the issues that has deadlocked the armies of the two countries in a 2.5-year-long stand-off at several friction points in eastern Ladakh.
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The ministry said the two commanders had a “frank and in-depth discussion, keeping in line with the guidance provided by the state leaders to work for the resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest” to “restore peace and tranquillity” along the LAC in Ladakh and “enable progress in bilateral relations”.
The statement further said: “The two sides agreed to stay in close contact and maintain dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and work out a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest.”
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It may be recalled that both India and China are locked in a stand-off in eastern Ladakh after Chinese troops crossed into the Indian side of the LAC and took control of a vast swath of Indian territory in May 2020. An attempt by Indian troops to dislodge them at a friction point in the Galwan valley turned into a deadly nightlong fists-and-clubs brawl resulting in the death of 20 Indian soldiers, including a colonel who was commanding the battalion there. China acknowledged that four of their soldiers were killed, although many experts have disputed the figure. They said China is bound to have suffered many more casualties given the nature of the terrain where the clash took place.
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Since then, the two countries started an unprecedented military build-up and have deployed tens of thousands of troops, tanks, aircraft, and other heavy weapons and equipment along the LAC in Ladakh.
Before the December 20 talks, India and China held 16 corps commander-level military meetings to resolve the issue. The last such talks were held in July this year. However, barring just one notable disengagement at the Pangong-tso area, all other talks have failed to resolve the issue. So far, China has steadfastly refused to restore the status quo of the LAC to how it was before their May 2020 incursion.
