The two sides will keep troops in forward areas of Ladakh for a second consecutive winter
Talks between military officials of China and India to disengage troops from the de facto border called the Line of Actual Control (LAC) have ended in a stalemate.
The two sides are blaming each other for their failure to bring any forward-looking proposals in the latest round of talks to end the border standoff. China accused India of making unreasonable demands in the military meetings, whereas India hit back by saying China lacked new proposals and did not accept its suggestions to improve the situation.
Colonel Long Shaohua, spokesperson for the Western theater of the People’s Liberation Army said the Chinese side made great efforts to calm tensions during a meeting of military officials on Sunday.
“The Chinese side has made great efforts and fully demonstrated its sincerity to promote the de-escalation of the border situation,” Long said after the 13th round of commander-level talks between the two militaries held in Moldo, on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.
“But India still stuck to unreasonable and unrealistic demands, which added difficulties to the negotiation.”
Beijing is determined to protect national sovereignty and hopes New Delhi would not misjudge the situation, he further added.
The Indian side hit back by saying China did not have new proposals to resolve the issue; neither did it accept their suggestions for resolving areas of dispute,
“…the Chinese side was not agreeable and also could not provide any forward-looking proposals,” the Indian army said in a statement, which was later reposted by the Indian foreign ministry, hoping that “the Chinese side will take into account the overall perspective of bilateral relations and work towards the early resolution of remaining issues.”
China-India Clashes in Ladakh region
The militaries of the two sides clashed several times in the Ladakh region since May 2020, when 20 Indian troops were killed by the Chinese soldiers in the Galwan Valley. China had lost four soldiers in that clash. Since then, both sides have stationed tens of thousands of soldiers along the de facto border called the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The troops have been backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets.