New Delhi (TIP): India and China remain engaged in resolving the current crisis at the border but are also pushing to settle “other outstanding issues” said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday, Nov 12.
“India and China have agreed to maintain dialogue and communication through military and diplomatic channels, and, taking forward the discussions at this meeting of the Senior Commanders, push for the settlement of other outstanding issues. They have also agreed to have another round of meeting soon,” said MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava. Earlier, there were reports that there has been headway in the disengagement plan at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, but the Chinese media denied such reports.
Indian media reported on Thursday that China and India have “broadly agreed to pull-back troops, tanks, howitzers and armored vehicles from ‘friction points’ in the Pangong Tso-Chushul area in eastern Ladakh.”
However, Global Times reported that while the momentum brought by the eighth round of corps commander talk is good, the “disengagement plan” mentioned by the media is “not accurate.”
According to the Global Times, Chinese authorities have said, “India has always had “unrealistic” ideas about the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and disregarded history, unilaterally believing that Fingers 4 to 8 are its patrolling areas, and has sought to gain bargaining chips in talks by fishing for interests in the disputed border area.”
India is focused on de-escalation of the stand-off and MEA spokesperson Srivastava said to that effect, “You may have already seen the Press Release issued after the 8th round India-China senior military commanders talks held in Chushul on 6th November. The talks were candid, in-depth and constructive and both sides exchanged views on disengagement at all friction points along the Line of Actual Control in the Western Sector of India-China border areas.”