Eastern Ladakh standoff: Chinese side says progress made, India for quick end to build-up

Sandeep Dikshit

Tribune news service

New Delhi, July 2

India on Thursday said it would continue its meetings with China both at military and diplomatic levels to resolve the face-offs along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to mutual satisfaction.

“We expect the Chinese side to sincerely follow up and ensure the expeditious restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas as per bilateral agreements and protocols,” said MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava.

The MEA’s emphasis on “expeditious, phased and step-wise de-escalation” is at variance with the Chinese MFA’s reading of five rounds of military and diplomatic talks besides a conversation between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

The Chinese Foreign Office claims “progress” in brief observations on Wednesday and projected an optimistic air by stating that both sides “continue working towards implementing the consensus reached at the two earlier rounds of commander-level talks and China welcomes that”. 

At the press briefing on Thursday, it did not touch on the India-China border tensions at all.  

India made no mention of the word “progress” while hoping that the overall situation would be handled in a responsible manner and that both sides would implement the disengagement understanding of June 6 sincerely.

On the banning of 59 Chinese apps, Srivastava reiterated the IT Ministry’s position that there were data security and privacy related shortcomings and explained at length that India had an open regime for attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

“India is today one of the world’s largest markets for digital and Internet technologies with over 68 crore subscribers. The world’s largest software and Internet applications companies are present in India. We will continue to welcome foreign investments in India, but this will have to be in accordance with the rules and regulatory framework,” he said.

India has adopted a three-pronged non-military strategy to hit back at China’s forward movement at several points on the LAC and the killing of 20 Indian soldiers. It has taken a strong position on South China Sea, slowed down consignments from China and has joined hands with allies to target China at global forums. 

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.