The deadlock is the most serious since India and China found themselves in a confrontation similar to Doklam.
New Delhi:
India and China will hold high-level talks this morning amid the border deadlock between the armed forces of the two countries close to eastern Ladakh. The talks have been requested by India and will be held in the meeting hut at the Indian border point in Chushul-Moldo.
India will be ruled by Lieutenant-General Harinder Singh, commander of the 14 corps, while the Chinese side will be ruled by the commander of the Tibet Military District. Multiple talks at the local level by regional military commanders have so far not progressed.
The PTI news agency quoted official sources as saying that the Indian delegation would press for the restoration of the state of affairs which previously existed in all regions of eastern Ladakh, would oppose the huge accumulation of Chinese troops in the region and would ask Beijing not to oppose the development of infrastructure in India on its side of the de facto border.
India claims Chinese military obstructs normal patrol of troops along actual line of control or LAC in Ladakh and Sikkim, and strongly refutes Beijing’s claim that escalating tensions between the two armies was sparked by an intrusion of Indian forces from the Chinese side.
The deadlock in eastern Ladakh lies in at least five key areas where India and China have had traditional differences in the perception of LAC in the region. The current tension between the two sides became very clear when reports of skirmishes between soldiers of the two sides were reported in the Pangong Lake area on May 5 and 6.
Since the clashes, there have been multiple reports of Chinese infantrymen intruding into areas such as Demchok to the south, the finger region on the eastern shores of high-altitude Pangong Lake, the Galwan basin, and more recently Gogra’s post. There has also been an increase in Chinese activity to the north, towards the Daulat Beg Oldie region.
The likely trigger of the confrontation was strong opposition from China to the laying by India of a key road in the Finger region around Lake Pangong Tso and the construction of another road connecting the Darbuk-Shayok road. -Daulat Beg Oldie in the Galwan Valley.
The road from Finger to Pangong Tso is considered crucial for India to conduct patrols. India has already decided not to block any border infrastructure projects in eastern Ladakh due to Chinese protests.
This deadlock is the most serious since India and China, which waged a brief war in 1962, were locked in a similar confrontation in Doklam, in the eastern Himalayas, which lasted nearly three months. in 2017.
A day before the meeting at the military level, Friday, India and China promised not to let their “differences” become disputes and agreed to manage them through peaceful dialogue while respecting their respective sensitivities and concerns. The positive approach came during a diplomatic dialogue by videoconference between Naveen Srivastava, co-secretary (East Asia) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Wu Jianghao, director general of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The border tension between India and China was one of a series of important issues that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump discussed in a phone call Tuesday, a week after Trump said that he had offered to mediate between India and China.
However, major government sources have contradicted the claim, saying there had been no recent interaction between the two leaders. China also rejected Trump’s offer, citing that the two neighbors are capable of solving the problems properly through dialogue and consultation.
The border between India and China covers the actual control line of 3,488 km. The two sides said that while waiting for the final settlement of the border issue, it was necessary to maintain peace and tranquility in the areas along the LAC region.
With PTI inputs
