India, China agree to hold another meeting, focus on resolving Hot Springs

New Delhi, Oct 22: After both countries could not resolve border disputes during the 13th round of talks, India and China have agreed to hold another round of meeting to resolve the border dispute at the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh.

 

According to the reports, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the two sides agreed to hold meeting to achieve the objective of complete disengagement from all the friction points along the LAC in the western sector in accordance with the existing bilateral pacts and protocols.

 

 

The talks will more focussed on the Hot Springs near Kongka La, which is a pre-condition for the Chinese troops to go back to their permanent bases. Apart from that, India also wants the restoration of patrolling rights in Charding Nullah Junction and Depsang Bulge. But the People's Liberation Army has continued with its aggression along the border.

 

Notably, the diplomatic talks take place under the framework of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC).

 

 

During the 13th round of military commanders meeting, the PLA did not agree to resolve the disengagement in Hot Springs area by refusing to move back to permanent bases or restoring status quo ante as existed in April 2020. In May 2020, the PLA using huge volume of troops unilaterally changed the ground positions on north banks of Pangong Tso, Galwan, Gogra and Hot Springs in East Ladakh in a bid to impose rejected 1959 line along the 1,597 kilometer Line of Actual Control in Ladakh.

 

It resulted in the border standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries erupting on May 5 last year following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas and both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry.

 

 

As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process in the Gogra area in August and in the north and south banks of the Pangong lake in February.

 

However, in the 13th round of talks Indian Army said that the meeting to resolve the LAC standoff did not ended on good terms. The Army, in a statement, said it gave “constructive suggestions” but the Chinese side was “not agreeable”. They also could not provide any forward-looking proposals, the Army said.