Open to talks any time, says Centre as body heading Ladakh fight walks out

The Centre on Monday said it was always open to talks on Ladakh matters with the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) “at any time” and expressed confidence that continuous dialogue would yield the desired results in the near future.

The statement by the Union Home Ministry came after the LAB announced that it would not attend the October 6 talks with the Centre until normalcy was restored and a conducive atmosphere was created in Ladakh. It also announced the boycott of a preparatory meeting before the talks scheduled to be held between the two sides in New Delhi tomorrow. The outfit said it would rethink about returning to the table “if right steps were taken before the scheduled next round of talks (on October 6)”.

The LAB walked out of talks in the aftermath of the September 24 violence in Leh that left four persons dead and nearly 100 injured. Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who was spearheading the movement for Ladakh’s statehood and the Sixth Schedule status, was detained and shifted to Jodhpur jail.

A Home Ministry official said the Centre would continue to welcome the discussion with the LAB and the KDA through the high-powered committee on Ladakh or any such platform.

The official said the dialogue so far had yielded good results in the form of increased reservations to the Scheduled Tribes of Ladakh, providing women's reservation in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council and protection to local languages.

“The process of recruitment for 1,800 government jobs has already commenced in the UT of Ladakh. We are confident that continuous dialogue would yield the desired results in the near future," the official said.