New Delhi: India and China have agreed to push for “early disengagement of frontline troops” after a marathon meeting of military commanders, as per the Indian military.
On Sunday, Indian and Chinese corps commanders met at Moldo on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control after a gap of over months. The ninth round of military talks lasted for 16 hours, ending only at 2.30 a.m. on Monday.
It took another 16 hours for the meeting’s joint press release to be issued on Monday evening.
The official summary described the meeting as “positive, practical and constructive, which further enhanced mutual trust and understanding”.
“The two sides agreed to push for an early disengagement of the frontline troops.,” said the statement.
Besides, they concurred to follow the “important consensus” of their leaders, maintain the “good momentum” of dialogue and negotiation and hold the next round of meeting “at an early date to jointly advance de-escalation”.
“The two sides agreed to continue their effective efforts in ensuring the restraint of the frontline troops, stabilize and control the situation along the LAC in the Western Sector of the China-India border, and jointly maintain peace and tranquillity,” stated the joint press release.
At the last meeting on September 21, the two sides had for the first time issued a joint press release after a meeting of senior military commanders. The main takeaway from the September meeting had been that the two neighbours had agreed not to add any more troops to the frontline. However, this phrase was missing from the latest statement.
India Today reported on January 24 that China had violated this confidence-building measure which had been apparently proposed by the Chinese.
Also read: On Ladakh Standoff, India and China Keep Their Gunpowder Dry
“The Chinese Army has consolidated its positions in eastern Ladakh and quietly, gradually increased troop numbers at the friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) despite specifically proposing four months ago that the two sides should refrain from sending more troops to the troubled front,” said the report.
Since May 2020, Indian and Chinese troops have been at a stand-off at multiple friction points in eastern Ladakh. The stand-off had been punctuated by several encounters between the forces – the most serious being on June 15 when 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives in a violent face-off at Galwan valley. In September 2020, shots were fired for the first time at the LAC in decades after a tense encounter at Pangong Tso lake’s southern bank.
Even as observers were awaiting the meeting’s outcome on Monday morning, there were reports that Indian and Chinese troops had a physical clash in Sikkim last week.
The Indian Army issued a brief statement that the incident was only a “minor face-off” at Naku La in Sikkim on January 20. Besides stating that local commanders resolved that encounter as per established protocols, there were no more details.
While the Indian Army acknowledged that there had been a clash on January 20, China’s state-run English-language tabloid, Global Times citing sources claimed that there “were no record of this incident in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) front line patrol logs”.
At the Chinese foreign ministry’s daily briefing, spokesperson Zhao Lijian stated that he didn’t have any details to offer. However, he added that India should exercise restraint.
“I want to stress though that China’s border troops have throughout dedicated themselves to safeguarding the peace and tranquillity of the China-India border region. China urges India to work in the same direction – not take any unilateral actions that could further complicate or escalate the border situation, appropriately control and handle differences and safeguard peace and stability of the border region through concrete actions,” he said, according to AFP.
However, these remarks of the spokesperson were missing from the official transcript of the briefing of the Chinese foreign ministry.