The 13th round of military talks between India and China have come to an end. However, the dialogue failed to produce any resolution of the remaining issues in eastern Ladakh, the Indian Army said on Monday.
A day after the dialogue ended, the army said the talks had been unsuccessful as the Chinese side was not agreeable to them and failed to provide forward-looking proposals despite the “constructive suggestions” made by India.
“The meeting thus did not result in resolution of the remaining areas,” the Army said in a statement.
The talks took place on the Chushul-Moldo border point on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh on Sunday and they lasted for around eight and-a-half hours.
The Army said the Indian side pointed out that the situation along the LAC had been caused by “unilateral attempts” by the Chinese side to alter the status quo and in violation of bilateral agreements.
“It was, therefore, necessary that the Chinese side take appropriate steps in the remaining areas so as to restore peace and tranquillity along the LAC,” the Army said.
The Indian delegation also emphasised that a resolution of the remaining issues would facilitate progress in bilateral relations.
“During the meeting, the Indian side, therefore, made constructive suggestions for resolving the remaining areas but the Chinese side was not agreeable and also could not provide any forward-looking proposals,” the Army said.
It said the two sides have agreed to maintain communications and also to maintain stability on the ground.
“It is our expectation that the Chinese side will take into account the overall perspective of bilateral relations and will work towards early resolution of the remaining issues while fully abiding by bilateral agreements and protocols,” the Army said.
What happened in Eastern Ladakh?
The 13th round of talks is taking place in the backdrop of two recent incidents of attempted transgressions by the Chinese troops — one in the Barahoti sector of Uttarakhand and another in the Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh.
Indian and Chinese troops were engaged in a brief face-off near Yangtse in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh last week and it was resolved within few hours following talks between commanders of the two sides as per established protocols, people familiar with the development said on Friday.
Last month, close to 100 soldiers of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) transgressed the LAC in the Barahoti sector.
The transgression took place on August 30, and the Chinese troops returned from the area after spending few hours.
The 13th round of high-level military talks on the Eastern Ladakh standoff between India-China were aimed at taking forward the disengagement process in the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh.
The Indian side is seeking disengagement as soon as possible for the resolution of issues in Depsang Bulge and Demchok.
The 12th round of talks had taken place on July 31. Days after the talks, the two armies completed the disengagement process in Gogra, which was seen as a significant forward movement towards the restoration of peace and tranquillity in the region.
(With inputs from PTI)
