India, China LAC talks deadlocked, Depsang sticking point
Ajay Banerjee
New Delhi, August 16
In the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s two expected meetings in the next few weeks, India and China on Tuesday issued a statement saying the two sides would keep discussing the resolution — at the military commander level — of pending issues along the LAC in eastern Ladakh.
Differences over pulling back of troops
- Differences remain unresolved over pulling back of troops from Depsang and Charding Nullah near Demchok, sources said
- Talks are stuck over Depsang, where the two sides have issues over troop positions, especially at ‘bottleneck’ on the eastern edge
Modi and Xi are expected to meet at the BRICS summit (August 22-24) in South Africa followed by the G20 summit in India (September 9-10). Sources said differences remain unresolved over pulling back of troops from the Depsang plains areas and Charding Nullah near Demchok. Talks are deadlocked over the pending resolution of disputes at Depsang, a 972-sq-km plateau where the two sides have issue over troop positions, especially at ‘bottleneck’ on the eastern edge of Depsang.
India has been objecting to People Liberation Army (PLA) deliberately blocking Indian patrols on this specific patrolling route in Depsang.
Prior to April 2020, Indian patrols used the route, however, the PLA has been craftily using a clause in a 30-year-old border agreement to block them.
A joint statement was issued on Tuesday after the 19th round of India-China Corps Commander Level Meeting was held at Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Indian side on August 13-14.
The Ministry of External Affairs posted the statement on its website that said “the two sides had a positive, constructive and in-depth discussion on the resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC in the Western Sector (eastern Ladakh)”.
They agreed to resolve the remaining issues in an expeditious manner and maintain the momentum of dialogue and negotiations through military and diplomatic channels, the statement said. This would be in line with the guidance provided by the leadership.
