Senior Colonel Long Shaohua, spokesman for China’s Western Theater Command, virtually went a step further by threatening that “instead of misinterpreting the situation, the Indian side should cherish a difficult win-win situation in the Sino-India border areas”.
The hardening of stands by both sides means that around 50,000 troops deployed along the border are headed for a second consecutive winter in eastern Ladakh, where temperatures dip to minus 30 degrees Celsius, coupled with acute oxygen deprivation.
The nearly nine-hour meeting on Sunday, led by 14 Corps Commander Lt-Gen PGK Menon and South Xinjiang Military District Chief of Staff Major General Zhao Zhidan, was “moving an inch” toward completing the detachment stalled at Patrolling Point. Failed”-15 (PP-15) in the Hot Springs-Gogra-Kongka La area, the sources said.
“As a result, the huge problems at the Charding Ninglung Nala (CNN) track junction in Demchok and Depsang plains seem insurmountable for now. Incidentally, this time the delegation was led by a new PLA Major General (the earlier round was led by Maj. General Liu Lin, who is now lieutenant-general), said a source.
The standoff in talks, which came soon after the PLA stepped in along the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh, with both sides issuing separate unusually strong statements on Monday morning, contrary to joint statements. past tense.
“The Indian side emphasized the resolution of the remaining areas, which will facilitate progress in bilateral relations. So the Indian side made constructive suggestions but the Chinese side did not agree and could not make any forward-looking proposal. Thus the remaining areas were not resolved in the meeting,” the Indian statement said.
In return, the Chinese military spokesman accused the Indian side of “maintaining to its unreasonable and unrealistic demands, causing difficulties in negotiations”.
The PLA statement clearly expressed its reluctance to go beyond the disengagement achieved in the Pangong Tso-Kailash range area in February and PP-17A near India’s crucial Gogra post in early August.
This would reinforce concerns that India should not have taken advantage of its prime bargain by agreeing to clear the heights of the Kailash range, which Indian troops captured in a daring maneuver in late August last year. Only in exchange for the Pangong Tso Dissolution Treaty.
In addition, PP-14 in Galwan Valley, PP-17A near Gogra and Pangong Tso, which vary from 3 km to about 10-km, have extensively exposed non-patrol buffer zones, which are believed to be India. claims that. Its area.
However, the Indian statement said that both sides agreed to maintain stability on the ground along with communication. It is our expectation that the Chinese side will take into account the overall perspective of bilateral relations and work towards early resolution of the remaining issues in full compliance with bilateral agreements and protocols.
pointing out that the situation LAC China’s “unilateral efforts to change the status quo and violate bilateral agreements”, the statement said, adding that it was necessary that China take “appropriate steps” in the remaining regions to restore peace and tranquility.
This will also be in accordance with the “guidance” provided by the two foreign ministers, S Jaishankar and Wang Yi, at their meeting in Dushanbe last month, where they agreed that the two sides should resolve the remaining issues at the earliest. added.
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